A Ninja's Gambit
by Captain Omnitron
Summary: R&R!When Naruto gets adopted by Tsunade he grows up to be a cardshark with explosive powers! Naruto with Gambit's powers. NarutoxHana. CHAPTER 13 HAS BEEN REWRITTEN!
1. Gotta Know When to Hold 'Em

A Ninja's Gambit

Naruto and all related characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto. X-Men and all related characters belong to Marvel Comics

Author's Note: So I got the idea for a story about what if Naruto had powers like Gambit's. But before I go any further let me say this, Gambit or any other X-Men will not be in this story and Naruto won't have a Cajun accent(It would be way weird if he did).

Chapter 1: Gotta Know When to Hold 'Em

The Kyuubi made it's way toward the Hidden Leaf Village. Minato Namikaze stood atop the great toad Gamabunta, with an infant in his arms. Minato looked at the baby boy in his arms and said,

"Goodbye Naruto." The 4th Hokage then stared down the giant fox and made several hand signs before shouting,

"Dead Demon Consuming Seal!" And summoned the Shinigami to seal the fox into the infant boy in his arms. The 4th died that day, and his son became the jinchuriki. It was a few days later that Hiruzen Sarutobi had resumed his position as Hokage and it was also then that everyone learned that little Naruto had the fox inside him. Everyone was in an uproar demanding that the infant be killed. Sarutobi had done his best to keep the mobs at bay, but it was hard.

The battle, if it could be called such, with Kyuubi had incurred many, many losses. Sarutobi pondered this as he walked down the somehow pristine corridors of Konoha's General Hospital. Responding to respectful, if subdued, bows and addresses of "Lord Hokage" with an empathetic look and kind smile, Sarutobi could not help but feel a deep sorrow. Many, many losses. And not all of them physical. Spirit was at an all time low. The crippling terror of the demon fox still lurked in the once bright eyes of men and women alike. Sarutobi sighed, but paused mid-stride as something caught his eye beyond the glass screen on his left. Tsunade?

"Hello Tsunade" the old man greeted, as he entered the empty room. Tsunade Senju was seen sitting on a chair, holding a bundle of cloth in her arms. She looked quite comfortable and Sarutobi could only guess just how long she had been sitting there.

"Hello, Sarutobi-sensei. You're wearing that ugly hat again." The patron medic-nin observed.

"Ah yes, well since Minato's passing, it looks like I'll have to be Hokage again, for now." Sarutobi grimaced. He would gladly take up the responsibility for his village, but Minato had been the bright future of the next generation. Once again, he felt a deep sorrow for Konoha.

Tsunade only grunted in response, seemingly remembering to be intensely annoyed with something.

"Something the matter, Tsunade?"

"Damn right something's the matter!" The blond hissed, "I found one of your medic-nins trying to kill this infant! And keep your voice down. I've only just gotten him to sleep."

Sarutobi didn't miss how Tsunade sounded royally pissed and disgusted at the first part, and suddenly embarrassed at that last part. But there was an assassination attempt already? By a medic no less. The re-instated Hokage, veteran of a hundred gruesome battles, felt suddenly ill.

"Oh Minato, ", Sarutobi darkly lamented under his breath, "perhaps you are better off dead. It would have only killed you a thousand times to see your village act like this."

"To do this to a child." Tsunade glared at Sarutobi then looked back at the whisker faced infant

"Of course I'll investigate into it right away, Tsunade. I'm sure it's just an isolated incident; I can't imagine a citizen of Konoha doing such a spiteful thing. The culprit will be harshly dealt with." The old Kage said. There were no good excuses for attempting to assassinate one of Konoha's own children in Sarutobi's books.

That seemed to appease Tsunade, well enough. She returned to staring intently at the sleeping infant.

"He involved in some sort of family feud?"

Sarutobi sighed. Truthfully, he didn't really know if this would just be an isolated incident at all. But he could hope. "No. He's an orphan, I'm afraid"

"An orphan." Tsunade seemed to hold the child closer while trying to look like she wasn't doing anything of the sort. A fact that wasn't lost on Sarutobi.

"Tsunade, are you…" Sarutobi began.

"What's his name?" Tsunade interrupted.

Not missing a beat, Sarutobi replied. "Ah, there's a problem with his last name, but the first name is confirmed to be Naruto."

"Naruto", Tsunade mused, "Naruto Senju. I like it." She rocked the child slightly,

"Do you like it, Naruto?" In response, the infant yawned which Tsunade took as a yes.

"Naruto Senju it is then. I'll send Shizune to deal with the papers later."

Mother and child. Seeing his former pupil smiling brightly down at her just adopted son, Sarutobi was suddenly overcome with an overwhelming sense of hope for the future. It was odd how, even in the aftermath of the bleakest days, he had found such a glowing sight. He didn't know what strange twist of fate had let these two to each other but he was grateful.

"No, that's not necessary. I'll handle it all. He's not just a normal child after all. I'll have to deal with the council" the old man sighed. "You see, he's the container."

"The container" Tsunade echoed. Then as realization struck, she pulled the cloth around Naruto's stomach away, revealing the seal. Tsunade frowned softly at it and did something a little unexpected.

"My poor Naruto" She caressed his hair consolingly.

"Not even in Konoha for a day and you're already in danger. I'm getting you out of here." She'd lost her lover and brother in Konoha. She'd be damned if she'd lose her newly adopted son here to some vengeful villager with a sharp object. And after the papers were signed, Tsunade and Shizune left with the newest member of the Senju.

**FLASH FORWARD 12 YEARS**

It was early afternoon on a road near The Village Hidden in the Leaves. Three figures were walking down the road. First one was dark haired woman who was wearing a black yukata and holding a pig in her arms. She was fidgeting a little, nervously stealing glances at her companions.

"Are you sure about this Lady Tsunade?" Another woman with blond hair looked back at her. She was wearing a green coat which had the word 'gamble' printed on its back. On her forehead she had a blue diamond shaped mark. It was Tsunade.

"What do you mean Shizune? I thought you were behind this idea all along? Having second thoughts?" Tsunade asked her apprentice.

"No! Of course not!" Shizune hurried to assure her.

"I'm just making sure you're not. Besides it's not you I'm really worried about." She added lowering her voice, looking ahead a little to two other figures walking ahead of them talking leisurely with each other. One of them was an old man with long white hair and was wearing a red coat. He was also carrying a large scroll behind his back. It was Jiraya the Toad Sage.

"What are you two talking about? Let's get a move on shall we? I don't want us to arrive just before midnight, right, brat?"

"Pervy Sage is right, Mom! Let's get a move on!" The last member of the group shouted excitedly. He was a young boy, probably twelve years old. He wore a dark brown trench coat, and a burnt orange mesh shirt. He had short spiky blond hair, and his eyes were black where everyone else's was white and his iris's were bright orange(1). Both his cheeks had three whisker like marks, and he had black fingerless gloves on his hands and black ninja shoes with metallic shin guards going up to his knees.

"I want to get some gambling done before the night fall!" The boy said as he shuffled a deck of cards between his hands. It was Naruto Senju himself. Naruto had gained quiet the gambling addiction, but what would one expect from someone who was raised by the Legendary Sucker. The only difference between him and his mother though was that Naruto usually won when he gambled. Naruto's favorite kind of gambling was poker, blackjack, and any other kind of card game. Naruto also had a unique ability. Every time he channeled chakra into an inanimate object it would explode a few seconds later, with the size of the explosion depending on the size of the object. Tsunade taught Naruto how to properly control this power and before long, Naruto was able to perfectly control the size of the explosions and it hardly took any chakra to do it. Naruto was also an expert card thrower, and his aim was on par with any jounin. Naruto's love of cards was so great that he used them as weapons by charging them with his explosive chakra and throwing them. While Naruto preferred to keep things long range, he was also an exceptional hand to hand fighter and was an expert staff fighter.

Soon the travelers made it to Konoha and checked in at the gate desk. At the gate they were stopped by couple of chunin guards.

"Lord Jiraiya! You're back!" One with a bandanna greeted them. "And not alone."

"This is my old team mate and her family, Tsunade Senju ." Jiraiya introduced his companions

"Lady Tsunade!" The other one yelled. "Welcome back to Konoha."

"Yeah yeah, shouldn't you be doing something other than screaming like maniacs?" Tsunade said in annoyed voice.

"Oh yes. Can we see your identification papers?" Kotetsu muttered. Everyone gave them their papers and Izumo checked them.

"Tsunade Senju. Cleared. Shizune Kuchiki . Cleared. (A/N: Yes I got this name from Bleach). And this young man is Naruto Senju. Senju!" He looked up.

"Do you mean?" Tsunade glared at the man and said,

"Do you have problems with my son?" Tsunade said angrily.

"No! Not at all." He stepped back in shock. "Cleared of course. Welcome to Konoha, Lord Naruto." He handed the papers back. Naruto just shrugged and followed his mother.

"Remind me how you talked me into becoming the Hokage." Tsunade asked Jiraiya.

"Simple, you had a pair of 2's and I had a pair of 3's." Naruto spoke up as he walked between the two Sannin.

**PLEASE REVIEW! If you like I'll do more!**

**1. This is my version Gambit's eyes, I just swapped the red for orange. Also when Naruto charges something it'll glow orange slightly.**


	2. The FiveCard Stud

A Ninja's Gambit

Naruto and all related characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto. X-Men and all related characters belong to Marvel Comics

Author's Note: Okay I decided to rewrite this chapter and get rid of the Wolverine stuff. From now on Gambit will be the only Marvel character I use.

Chapter 2: The Five-Card Stud

The four travelers made their way to the Hokage Tower to meet with the recently retired Hiruzen Sarutobi. As they walked everyone took notice of Naruto and correctly assumed he was Tsunade's son, based on his hair and the fact he was constantly shuffling a deck of cards with expert skill. Soon it was like the whole village started repeating the word: son. Tsunade wanted to slap her face with her hand but was forced to satisfy with a sigh. Similar whispers followed them all the way to the Hokage Tower where they were greeted and led to a room where the old Hokage was waiting.

"Greetings, Tsunade, Jiraiya, Shizune." Sarutobi said as the 2 Sannin took seats in front of him. The 3rd then noticed the fourth member of the group leaning on the wall in the back of the room, flinging cards with pinpoint accuracy into a decorative bowl that was on the opposite side of the room.

"I assume this is Naruto?" Sarutobi asked as everyone turned their attention to Naruto, who had just thrown his last card into the bowl.

"Naruto! Stop playing around and get over here!" Tsunade snapped as Naruto collected his playing cards and casually walked over to the adults. Naruto waved his right arm in a circular motion and placed his hand on his chest as he bowed and said,

"Naruto Gambit Senju at your service, Lord Hokage." Sarutobi was about to question the "Gambit" part of that introduction, but Tsunade answered his unspoken question,

"Gambit is a nickname Naruto picked up a couple of years ago." Sarutobi nodded as he took a look at Naruto's strange eyes, but decided not to question it.

"Now I'm assuming you want to know why I've suddenly decided to retire?" The 3rd asked Tsunade.

"Well yes, I was wondering. I thought you'd still be doing this job until your grandchildren had grandchildren." Tsunade said with slight humor in her voice. Sarutobi's face then became somber at the mention of the word grandchildren.

"The reason I'm retiring is because my only grandson, Konohamaru, has lost both his parents. They were on a C-Ranked mission that quickly turned A-Rank, and didn't return." Tsunade then regretted her choice of words at hearing this.

"I'm sorry sensei." Tsunade said as she bowed her head. Sarutobi sighed and replied,

"Thank you. But back to the matter at hand. Konohamaru needs his family right now, and I can't give him the time he deserves when I'm running a village." Tsunade nodded as the former Third Hokage went on to explain all the preparations for her inauguration. Naruto, who stood next to Shizune, was starting to get bored. His interest in the conversation peaked some when he heard Sarutobi's reason's for retiring and he did feel bad for this Konohamaru kid but he was still bored out of his mind. Naruto looked around and saw a pot of flowers on the opposite side of the Hokage's desk. The little gambler got an idea in his blond head. He reached into his coat and pulled out a card, his intent was to see if he could cut the steams with a single card. As Naruto was about to throw the card, a hand clamped down on his wrist. He looked up and saw his big sister Shizune giving him a "Don't even think about it." look. Naruto put the card away and loudly, though unintentionally, sighed. Tsunade looked over at her son and said,

"We'll be here for a while, so why don't you and Shizune go get something to eat?" Naruto was out the door faster than anyone could blink after those words left Tsunade's mouth. Shizune chased after him, as Naruto tried to find the nearest casino. As Naruto ran down the streets he crashed into someone. Naruto got up and dusted himself off as he heard a gruff voice yell,

"HEY, WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM?" Naruto looked over at the person he ran into and saw a boy his age. The boy wore a grey parka with a black furry hood and black pants. The boy had slitted pupils, large canine teeth, and had an overall feral appearance. Next to the boy was a small white dog that was growling at Naruto. The feral boy looked down and saw a long tear in the sleeve of his parka.

"Look what you did!" The feral boy growled at Naruto. Naruto was not really caring for the dog boy's attitude, and got an idea to shut the feral jerk up.

"Oh I'm sorry. I happen to know a good tailor that can fix that. I think he gave me a business card" Naruto said as he dug out a card from his coat.

"Oh sorry. It's one of mine." Naruto said a he pulled out a playing card that began to glow slightly orange and flicked it at the dog boy. The card exploded and knocked the boy 20 feet away. Naruto smirked and began to walk away. The dog boy staggered to his feet and asked,

"Just who are you?" Naruto stopped walking and said,

"My name is Naruto Senju. To my enemies it's Gambit. You can go on ahead forget the first name if you want." Naruto then continued walking away as the feral boy collapsed. Shizune walked down the streets looking for Naruto. She was starting to get worried as Naruto had a knack for finding trouble. Shizune then got the idea to use Ton-Ton to sniff Naruto out. Shizune happened to have one of Naruto's playing cards and let the small pig sniff it.

"Oink, Oink!" The tiny pig exclaimed as it ran off in Naruto's direction.

At that moment Naruto was walking around one of Konoha's various training grounds. Naruto was beginning to get bored again, that is until he heard someone crying. It was definitely a girl. Naruto followed the sound and saw that it was indeed a girl, sitting on the ground. The girl looked to be his age, and had short dark blue almost black hair. Naruto, being the gentleman that he was, placed his hand on her shoulder and asked,

"Excuse me, but are you okay?" The girl looked up at him with watery eyes. Her eyes were slightly red from crying but Naruto could clearly see that he eyes were almost completely white, save for the slight touch of lavender. She was quiet for a moment before saying,

"O-oh. Yes, I-I'm fine." Naruto didn't buy that for a second and said as he sat down on the ground next to her,

"I don't think so. As a gambler I can tell when someone isn't telling something, and I know that you'll feel better if you get it off your chest." The girl sniffled a little and said,

"M-my mother d-died 8 years ago t-today. I w-was in my room, when m-my cousin came in and heard m-me crying. He s-said that I shouldn't c-cry, it w-was my mother's fate to die t-that day." Naruto felt really bad for her and decided to giver her some comfort and maybe some advice.

"I'm sorry to hear that. But I can tell you right now, that your cousin is full of crap." The girl shot her head up and looked at the boy, finally getting a good look at his face and his strange eyes.

"There is no fate or destiny, just chance and luck. There could be a chance that it'll start pouring down rain right this second." Naruto said as he motioned to the cloudless sky.

"Sure that's not a big chance, but's it's a chance to nonetheless." Naruto said. The blond then reached into his coat and pulled out a deck of cards and began shuffling them then took 2 cards.

"Now sometimes you'll be dealt a bad hand." Naruto showed the two cards were a 2 of diamonds and a 7 of clubs. Naruto the put the cards back and shuffled the deck again and pulled out two more cards.

"But for every bad hand there bound to be a good one." Naruto the revealed the cards were an ace of spades and an ace of diamonds. The girl began to smile a little, and said,

"Thank you. What's your name?" Naruto smiled and replied,

"Naruto Senju. And you?" The girl replied,

"Hinata Hyuga." At that moment Shizune showed up.

"Naruto where have you been?" Naruto got up and said,

"Oh, I've just been talking to Hinata here." Shizune looked at the girl and smiled.

"Well Naruto it's time to head to our new house." Shizune said as she motioned for Naruto to follow her.

"See ya around Hinata!" Naruto said as he walked off with his big sister figure. Hinata waved a little and quietly said,

"Goodbye, Naruto."

**PLEASE REVIEW!**

**As you can see I'm tweaking things a little. I just had Sarutobi retire so I could still have Naruto be part of the Konoha 11.**


	3. The Gambling Genin

A Ninja's Gambit

Naruto and all related characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto. X-Men and all related characters belong to Marvel Comics

Chapter 3: The Gambling Genin

Naruto and Shizune walked to the newly renovated Senju Estate. It was fairly large, being roughly the size of a small mansion. They entered the living room and Naruto plopped down on the couch as Shizune placed Ton-Ton on the floor and sat down herself. After a couple of minutes of silence Naruto said,

"I think I wanna be a ninja." Shizune, who was reading a book, then gave Naruto her full attention and said,

"Why Naruto? Lady Tsunade has told you all the horror stories of her time as a ninja." Naruto turned his head to face his big sister and replied,

"I don't know, I guess I just want to experience the life for myself. I mean what am I going to do here? Just go around gambling? I've done that for practically my whole life. Sure I love it but I feel like I should do something else with my life." Shizune just stared at her surrogate little brother and said,

"You know Lady Tsunade will be dead set against it. And don't think you can just make a bet with her and she'll let you do it." Naruto knew Shizune was right. He had thought about using his mother's gambling addiction to his advantage, but he knew she wouldn't bet on something like this. Shizune was wondering where this sudden urge to become a ninja was coming from. Aside from wearing ninja sandals, Naruto had never shown any signs that he wanted to be a shinobi. But the truth was, Naruto had wanted to become a shinobi for a long time, he just knew better than to say anything around Tsunade. But since she was the Hokage now and they were in a ninja village his desire to be a ninja had skyrocketed to new levels, but he knew how to keep his cool and not let on what he really wanted. Soon Tsunade came into the room and sat down into a chair and said,

"I need a drink." Naruto looked at his mother and said,

"I don't think so. Remember, you have another month to go or you owe 200 ryo." Tsunade mentally cursed herself for taking that stupid bet. Naruto leaned forward, placing his elbows on his legs, and began to shuffle his cards. Naruto had what you could call a nervous tick. Whenever he began to really think about something he'd shuffle his cards over and over again in the same way. Shizune picked up on this and knew Naruto was thinking about how to get Tsunade to let him become a shinobi. Tsunade noticed but didn't say anything. She figured he was just thinking about how he could beat everyone in Konoha out of their money. Soon Naruto stopped shuffling his deck and leaned back again, with a smirk on his face. This didn't go unnoticed by his family. Tsunade simply believed he figured out whatever he was thinking about. But Shizune knew he had a plan cooked up in that spiky blond head, and she hoped he had thought it through. Naruto casually walked up to his mother and said,

"Hey I know what'll make you feel better," He then took out his cards and shuffled them between his hands," A nice game of Suna Hold 'Em(1)." Naruto continued. Tsunade eyed her son warily. Usually he only wanted to play poker with her when he wanted something. But since she couldn't drink, gambling was the next best thing. Naruto placed the cards on the coffee table, along with 10 ryo, and began to deal out the cards. Tsunade also placed 10 ryo and took her cards.

It was two hours later and the pot had gone up to 500 ryo. Naruto's plan was working. He always played on the up and up when it came to cards, but that didn't mean he didn't know how to con someone. The entire game he was doing his best to lose so that Tsunade would keep going, believing that she was having a good luck streak. When they neared the third hour Tsunade was clearly the winner as Naruto had no money left to bet.

"Well looks like the infamous Gambit just lost." Tsunade boasted as she raked Naruto's money over to herself. Naruto just smirked and said,

"Well we still have one hand left. I may not have any money to put up, but I have something else in mind." Tsunade raised an eyebrow at this and siad,

"I'm listening." Naruto leaned back in his seat and said,

"If you win this hand, you can drink all the sake you want and I'll even pay you the 200." Tsunade smirked as Naruto continued,

"But if I win, you have to let me do anything I want for one day." Tsunade's smirk then faded and she was about to say something but Naruto quickly added,

"I promise I won't do anything illegal!" Tsunade slowly nodded before saying,

"Alright, you're on!" Tsunade showed her cards, a full house. Naruto smirked laid four aces on the table. Needless to say Tsunade was speechless.

"Well looks you still have a month to go before you can have sake, and looks like tomorrow I get to do whatever I want." Naruto boasted. Naruto collected his money and went to his room, leaving a to stunned to move Tsunade.

It was a regular day at the Konoha Ninja Academy as Iruka Umino addressed his class.

"Alright students, today we'll be having a new student joining us." Iruka said as a blond haired boy entered the class room. He wore a dark brown trench coat, burnt orange mesh shirt, and metallic shin guards.

"Naruto Senju. Nice to meet you!" Naruto said as he waved at the class.

"This is ridiculous. We're a week from graduation and this guy thinks he can just come here and keep up." A raven haired boy in a navy blue shirt said. Naruto looked at the boy and asked,

"And you are?" The boy sneered and replied,

"Sasuke Uchiha." Naruto smirked and said,

"Well if you're so sure I can't keep up, how about a little spar?" The Uchiha smirked slightly. Iruka decided to step in and said,

"Well I suppose it would be the best way to see what Naruto is capable of. Everyone head to the training field." Everyone headed outside to watch the fight.

Naruto and Sasuke stood 15 feet away from each other. Naruto reached into his coat and pulled out a scroll and opened it revealing a six foot metal staff. Naruto smirked as he said,

"Ready?" Sasuke replied,

"Hn, whenever you are." They both then charged toward each other with Sasuke's fangirls cheering him on. The two fighters collided and the whole class was stunned.

**Ain't cliffhangers awesome? PLEASE REVIEW!**

**1. It plays like Texas Hold'em **


	4. The Avenger VS The Gambler

A Ninja's Gambit

Naruto and all related characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto. X-Men and all related characters belong to Marvel Comics

Chapter 4: The Avenger VS The Gambler

The entire class was stunned. The minute Naruto's staff struck Sasuke, a small orange flash sent the Uchiha flying backwards and into a wall. The Uchiha barely managed to rebound off the wall before he slammed into it. Sasuke looked at the staff wielding blond and saw him casually shuffling a deck of cards with one hand. Naruto looked at his raven haired opponent and smugly said,

"Oh are we still fighting?" This caused the Uchiha to charge in rage at Naruto, who threw one card from his deck at Sasuke. Sasuke smirked believing that he had nothing to fear from a playing card and that it was a distraction. Oh how wrong he was, as the card struck him and another orange explosion sent him sailing backward. Naruto quickly got behind his opponent and and swung his staff like a baseball bat, leaving a slight trail of orange behind it, and struck the Uchiha hard in the back sending him sailing into a wall head first. Iruka rushed over to check on Sasuke who, while unconscious, was still breathing. Iruka took Sasuke to the nurses office, while Sasuke-Fangirl Club decided to teach Naruto a lesson for beating Sasuke. The pink haired leader shouted at Naruto,

"WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING THAT TO SASUKE? YOU JUST CHEATED! USING THOSE TRICK CARDS!" Naruto was not amused by the pink haired banshee, but being a gentleman, decided to play along.

"Oh I am so sorry madame. I was unaware that this Sasuke Uchiha was SO important." Naruto said with sarcasm dripping off his words. The pink haired girl was fuming and tried to punch Naruto in the face, however he easily dodged and leaped over the wall that surrounded the training field. Naruto then yelled from the entrance to the training grounds,

"Catch me if you can!" The entirety of the Academy's female students ran after him, with the exception one of Hyuga heiress, ready to to beat him down. Once the coast was clear, Naruto jumped back into the training field a few seconds later.

"How'd you get back here so fast?" A rather chubby boy with red swirls on his cheeks asked the blond card thrower. Naruto shrugged and replied,

"I never left. Those fangirls are currently chasing a shadow clone." The chubby boy laughed and said,

"Cool. My names Chouji Akimichi by the way." Naruto smiled and nodded. Naruto then saw the dog boy from yesterday. The feral boy walked up and said,

"Hey, sorry about yesterday. But anyone who can lay that kind of a beating on that emo jackass is a friend of mine. Name's Kiba Inuzuka." Naruto smiled and shook the Kiba's hand. Naruto lived by the rule of 'no harm, no foul'. As long as no one got seriously hurt, he could live with it. Soon Iruka came back and everyone headed back to the class room. Naruto smiled as he walked with his new friends.

Naruto walked into his house and went straight up to his room. His first day at the Academy was eventful for sure. Naruto's plan was going off without a hitch. It would be four weeks before Tsunade would be officially instated as Hokage, which meant Sarutobi was still running things. At this rate he would already be on a team and have done his first few missions before his mother could find out. And when she would find out he could fall on the bet they made. After all the bet was that if he won that hand he could do whatever he wanted for one day and he just decided to become a ninja that day. It was foolproof if he did say so himself. Naruto went to sleep that night very pleased with himself.

The next week went by pretty fast for Naruto. He breezed through the genin exam and was put on a team with Kiba Inuzuka and Hinata Hyuga. There sensei was Kurenai Yuhi, who they were to met at a small park. Kiba and Hinata got there first. Naruto arrived a second later, now wearing a forehead protector that framed his face(A/N: It looks just like Yamato's). Kurenai arrived a minute later. After the 3 took a seat on a park bench, Kurenai said,

"Alright, I think it would be a good idea to get to know each other a little better." The genin were unsure of what to say, so the ruby eyed kunoichi decided to help them out.

"I'll go first. My name is Kurenai Yuhi. My likes are my friend and training. My dislikes are perverts and people who look down on female ninja. My hobbies are reading and creating and learning new types of genjutsu. My dream is to become the greatest genjutsu user in the world." Kurenai said. The red eyed jonin then pointed to Naruto who was flipping his cards around in his hand.

"My name is Naruto Senju. My likes are my family and friends, training, beautiful women, and ramen. My dislikes are anyone who don't treat women with respect, the time it takes ramen to cook, and anyone who cheats at cards. My hobbies are gambling, playing poker, blackjack, or any other kind of card game. My dream is to become a capable ninja and possibly become Hokage." Naruto said as he continued to play with his cards.

'He seems like a nice enough kid. I just hope that gambling addiction won't be a problem.' Kurenai thought.

"Alright why don't you go next?" Kurenai said pointing to Hinata. The Hyuga heiress gulped slightly and said,

"M-my name is H-Hinata Hyuga. I like my f-friends, flowers, and t-training with my f-friends. I d-dislike people who j-judge someone b-before they g-get to know t-them, and my h-hobby is p-pressing flowers. My dream is to get a-acknowledged by my c-cousin and someone e-else." Kurenai nodded as she thought,

'A little lacking in self confidence, but I'm sure she'll open up.' Kurenai then pointed to Kiba who said,

"My name is Kiba Inuzuka. My likes are my family, friends and my dog Akamaru." The little white puppy that was in his parka stuck his head out and yipped at the mention of his name.

"My dislikes are snobs, cats, and people who treat dogs badly. My hobbies are taking Akamaru for walks and training. My dream is to be head of my clan." Kiba continued. Kurenai nodded and said,

"Well all that's left is the final test to see if you can work as a team. If you fail you'll be sent back to the Academy for another year. Meet me at Training Ground 3 tomorrow at 7:00am." The genin nodded and headed to their respective homes. Naruto was a little worried but he figured it couldn't be that hard.

**PLEASE REVIEW!**

**If you're wondering why I gave Naruto Yamato's style of forehead protector, it's because it looks a lot like what Gambit wears in the comics.**


	5. The Test

A Ninja's Gambit

Naruto and all related characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto. X-Men and all related characters belong to Marvel Comics

Chapter 5: The Test

Naruto, Hinata, and Kiba arrived at the designated training ground a couple of minutes before 7:00am. Kurenai arrived a couple of minutes later at seven exactly. Before Kurenai could tell her would be team the rules of the test, a banshee like scream echoed from the next training ground.

"WE'VE BEEN HERE FOR TWO HOURS! WHY IS HE SO LATE?" The three genin knew it was a certain pink haired girl they knew from the Academy.

'Late as ever, huh Kakashi?' Kurenai thought as she turned her attention back to the genin.

"All right. The point of this exercise is to get these three ribbons." Kurenai said as she tied the blue ribbons around her left arm.

"Is that all? This'll be easy!" Kiba said with great enthusiasm. Kurenai smirked a little and said,

"Maybe, if you can find me that is. If all of you fail to get at least one ribbon in 2 hours time, you'll be sent back to the Academy." And with that the raven haired beauty vanished in a puff of smoke. Naruto sat down on the ground and crossed his legs as he began to shuffle his cards, earning him shocked looks from his teammates.

"Naruto! What are you doing? We only got two hours and you're just gonna play with your cards?" Kiba said as he just stared at his blond teammate. Naruto kept his eyes on the cards as he said,

"I'm planning." Kiba gave him a curious look before he started pacing around trying to come up with his own plan. Hinata watched as Naruto kept shuffling the cards again and again. Suddenly, Naruto stopped and got up. Naruto looked at Hinata and asked her,

"That bloodline of yours lets you see through anything in a 360 degree range right?" Hinata wasn't entirely sure where he was going with this but nodded. Naruto smirked and said,

"All right here's the plan. While you and Kiba make a circle around the training ground. When you find her chase her back here." Kiba was confused and asked,

"What're you gonna do?" Naruto smirked and replied,

"Don't wanna ruin the surprise." The two clan heirs looked at Naruto curiously but did as instructed. After his teammates left, Naruto sat back down and waited. After about 15 minutes he saw someone coming so he made 20 shadow clones. As the person got closer he saw it was Kurenai, with Kiba and Hinata hot on her tail. Naruto smiled and sent his clones toward Kurenai as he took his 6 foot metal staff from it's scroll and charged forward as well. Kurenai's scarlet eyes widened when she saw the mob of Naruto's running toward her. The real Naruto threw a card at her feet, which exploded and knocked her off her down. Kurenai quickly recovered, just as the real Naruto snatched as ribbon. Naruto threw several more cards around Kurenai, but the was a distraction as Kiba had Akamaru grab a ribbon. Naruto kept throwing his explosive cards, keeping Kurenai on the defensive. Hinata saw an opportunity and went for it, grabbed the last ribbon. Kurenai looked as they all showed off their ribbons, and smiled as she said,

"You all pass. Tomorrow we start out first mission. I need to go report to the Hokage so I'll see you then." Kurenai then disappeared yet again in puff of smoke.

Kurenai appeared in the Hokage's office along with Asuma and Kakashi. Sarutobi sat behind the desk, with Tsunade next to him. He was showing her the ropes before her inauguration.

"Shino Aburame, Sasuke Uchiha, and Sakura Haruno. Pass." Kakashi said in his usual aloof voice. The old Kage nodded and said,

"Kurenai how did you're team fair?" Kurenai replied,

"Kiba Inuzuka, Hinata Hyuga, and Naruto Senju. Pass." Tsunade's eyes almost shot out of her head when she heard that name.

"I'm sorry, but could repeat that last name?" Tsunade said. She wanted to make sure before she killed her son.

"Naruto Senju?" Kurenai repeated in an unsure voice. Tsunade shot up out of her seat and stormed out of the room yelling,

"I'M GONNA KILL THAT BRAT!" Everyone visibly paled as Tsunade stomped down the street looking for her soon to be dead son. She spotted him coming out of a casino and yelled,

"NARUTO!" Naruto jerked his head around and saw his mother heading straight for him. Naruto threw one of his cards down, making a large explosion. When the dust cleared Naruto was nowhere to be seen.

"YOU HAVE TO COME HOME SOMETIME!" Tsunade yelled. Naruto was halfway to the other side of Konoha by the time he stopped running. As Naruto was catching his breath, someone called out to him.

"Hello fellow youthful ninja! I'm glad to someone training so hard!" Naruto looked and saw a boy his age with large eyebrows, a black bowl cut, and wore green spandex and orange leg warmers.

"Uh, Thanks?" The boy smiled a brightly, his teeth literally sparkling, and gave Naruto a thumbs up as he said,

"I am in need of a sparring partner. Care to train with me?" Naruto looked at the overly cheerful boy and said,

"Not right now but thanks anyway." Suddenly a voice roared out,

"NARUTO!" Naruto turned and saw that Tsunade was still on his tail. Thinking quickly Naruto turned to the spandex wearing boy and said,

"You know, on second thought I think I do want to train! I know a great spot! Follow me!" Naruto grabbed the boys arm and drug him off.

**PLEASE REVIEW!**


	6. Consequences

A Ninja's Gambit

Naruto and all related characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto. X-Men and all related characters belong to Marvel Comics

Chapter 6: Consequences

It was nearly nighttime as Naruto trudged home at a snails pace, partly because he knew what awaited him there and mainly because he was tired and sore beyond belief from training with his new spandex clad friend Rock Lee. Lee couldn't use ninjutsu or genjutsu so he had to train like crazy in taijutsu to be a ninja, something Naruto found out when they spared. Now as good as Naruto was when it came to fighting, he was nothing when it came to Lee. Even when Naruto used his staff he got his butt kicked. Though, the blond gambler had to admit, the bushy browed genin was interesting for sure. Naruto was pulled out of his thoughts as he saw that he was already at the front gate of his house. Naruto exhaled sharply as he walked through the gate and entered his home, ready for whatever Tsunade had planned for him. Naruto knew that any chance of using that bet against her was shot to hell and back as soon as he saw her charging at him with an anger in her eyes he'd only seen once, and that was when Jiraiya spied on her in the shower. Naruto peaked his head in the door, and looked around. He slowly walked in, took his shoes off, and made his was down the hall. Suddenly the blond felt a cold shiver run up his spine.

"Naruto, come here." A cold voice called from the living room. Naruto gulped and slowly made his way into the living room, where Tsunade was sitting in a chair with Shizune standing next to her. In front of her was another chair, which she motioned for Naruto to sit down in. Nope, she was not going to make this easy for Gambit, not one little bit. Naruto took a deep breath and put on his best poker face, as not to let his mother know she was getting to him, and sat down.

Tsunade stared her son down for a long while, not saying anything, trying to get him to lose his cool before she went in for the proverbial kill. But after 10 minutes with no visible response of nervousness from Naruto, she gave in and decided to speak first.

"Why did you do this Naruto?" Tsunade asked, still in the cold voice she had been using. Naruto put his hands behind his head and leaned back in his seat with a nonchalant attitude, but on the inside he was freaking out, not that he needed Tsunade to know that. Naruto let a very small smirk form on his face and said in an aloof tone,

"I believe you recall a wager we made the day we moved in? You came home feeling stressed, and we had a friendly game of poker. It was the last hand, and you had all but won. I didn't have any money so I bet that if I won I could do whatever I wanted for one day as long as it wasn't illegal." Tsunade nodded, remembering the game very well. She still couldn't believe he had won that hand.

"So for my one day of doing anything I wanted, I decided to join the Ninja Academy." Naruto continued, still using the aloof tone of voice.

"Naruto, I asked why you did this. I've told you about your Uncle Nawaki and Dan, what being a ninja did for them!" Tsunade said, starting in the same icy voice but choked up a little at the end. Naruto's small smirk fell as he remembered the stories his mother had told him of his Uncle and the man that could have been his father.

"I did it because I wanted to make something of my life. I don't want to go down in history as, 'Naruto Gambit Senju, the gambler who never made a difference in anyone's life!'. I want to help protect the village the Senju clan co-founded, and I want to do it to honor the memories of Uncle Nawaki and Dan Kuchiki!" Naruto said with the most determination he had ever shown. Tsunade just sat silently, while Shizune began to tear up a little at her little brothers heartfelt words.

"I know it's a dangerous job Mom. I know that it's a gamble every time a ninja goes out on a mission there's a chance they won't come back, but I've always had great luck!" Naruto said, starting serious and ending with a little humor. Tsunade still said nothing, she just kept her eyes on her son. Naruto sighed and said,

"Once you're Hokage you can discharge me if you want, but I'll always be a ninja even if I don't have a headband." At this Tsunade quickly got up and enclosed Naruto into a tight embrace. Naruto slowly returned the gesture as the shock faded.

"I never knew you felt this way Naruto. I'll admit that I still hate the fact you did this, but I can't argue with your reasons, no matter how much I want to." Tsunade said as she began to cry. At this point Naruto was tearing up as Tsunade continued,

"I won't discharge you because I understand why you did it, but I won't go easy on you though. I'll give you the most menial and tiring missions I can find, and after a few months, when I'm sure you've learned your lesson about going behind my back I MAY let you go out of the village on a mission." As the two broke apart from their embrace, Naruto smiled at his mother as she did him. After making sure there was nothing else to say, Naruto began to head to the kitchen to get some dinner. However as he was almost out of the room, Tsunade said,

"Oh Naruto!" Naruto turned around just in time to see his mother's fist heading for his face. He then felt himself flying through the air and out the window, before crashing into a bush outside. Naruto slowly got up and made his way back into the house.

"You know I could have punched you all the way to Sunagakure right?" Tsunade said as Naruto headed up to his room, the thought of food long gone.

"Yeah, yeah." Naruto mumbled as he plucked a leaf out of his hair and went inside his room.

**PLEASE REVIEW! And no this story is not dead!**


	7. ARanked

A Ninja's Gambit

Naruto and all related characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto. X-Men and all related characters belong to Marvel Comics

Author's Note: Okay to everyone who reviewed Chapter 6, I know Dan already had a last name. I forgot it, couldn't remember it, didn't think to look it up, and since I already used Kuchiki for Shizune I used it for him.

Chapter 7: Always Play the Hand you're Dealt

It was an average day in Konohagakure, as a brown cat wandered through the forest. Unbeknownst to the cat however, it was being watched.

"This is Gambit, I have visual contact with target, over." A blond trench-coat wearing genin spoke into his headset as he kept an eye on the cat from his treetop vantage point.

"Wolverine here, target is in my sights, over." A feral brunet said from his position behind a bush.

"W-white Eyes reporting, t-target is r-ready for c-capture, o-over." A navy blue haired girl said from behind a tree.

"Mastermind[1] to team, proceed with capture, over." A crimson eyed beauty said from her position, which was out in the open about 20 yards away from said target. Suddenly a playing card came flying from a tree and struck the ground, making a small explosion, which scared the cat making it run toward a bush. However, a small white puppy came charging out of said bush and began to bark and chased the frightened feline into the waiting arms of a certain Hyuga heiress.

"Great job Naruto, Kiba, Hinata. Target: Tora has been successfully captured, now to get her back to the Daimyo's wife." Kurenai said as she walked up to her team, who would have smiled at her praise if it wasn't for the fact they had retrieved this particular cat for the tenth time that month! Naruto and Kiba hated that cat with every fiber of their being, while Hinata adored Tora and enjoyed petting and cuddling her while they took her to Tsunade's office.

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><p>The four weeks before Tsunade was to made Hokage had flown by, and Naruto was never more miseraf ble. Yep, Tsunade was making good on her word and was assigning even more boring and menial D-Rank missions to Team Kurenai than Sarutobi ever did! If it wasn't painting houses or removing raccoon's from someones attic, it was babysitting hyperactive toddlers or pulling out old stumps around the training grounds. To make matters worse, Kiba had to ask Tsunade why they were getting the worst missions compared to the other genin teams.<p>

"Well if you want to know, why don't you ask Naruto?" Tsunade said with a smirk as she kept her eyes on Naruto. The little card-shark then had to explain the whole ordeal to his team and sensei, who all took it better than he expected. Kiba and Hinata were a little shocked to find out Tsunade didn't want her son to become a shinobi, given their family line and her being one of the Sannin, but understood Naruto's position. Kurenai was especially sympathetic to Naruto situation since her mother didn't want her to become a ninja either, then again her mother wasn't the Hokage and didn't have the power to pick and choose what missions she went on. At any rate they were looking at another couple of months of D-Rank missions before Tsunade would even consider letting them have a higher ranked mission.

"Man I don't know how much more I can take!" Kiba groaned as he, Naruto, and Hinata walked out of the Hokage Tower. Naruto nodded in agreement as he said,

"Yeah same here, but we just gotta deal with it until Mom decides I've learned my lesson. Sorry you guys gotta put up with this to." Kiba sighed as he responded,

"Don't worry about it, I know how it is." Naruto smiled at Kiba who, despite their rocky first meeting, had become his best friend.

"Y-yes Naruto. We u-understand how d-difficult dealing w-with parents can b-be." Hinata said in her usual stutter. Naruto smirked at her, which caused her to blush a deep red. Naruto knew full well that she had a crush on him, it was blatantly obvious to anyone who saw both of them interact for more than 3 minutes. Kiba on the other hand wasn't as observant when it came to things of that nature, despite the fact he fancied himself a ladies man. Naruto chose not to let her know he knew, he figured she would either tell him when she wanted to or the crush would fade as crushes often do. In the mean time though, Gambit was happy with just being Hinata's friend. After treating his team to ramen and chatting for a while, Naruto decided to head home to rest up for another day of thankless chores.

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><p>Naruto made his way to the Hokage Tower without much enthusiasm, if he had any at all, ready for another day of D-Ranked chores. Yes, chores, Naruto had stopped calling them missions weeks ago. As he entered his mother's office, he saw his team assembled in front of Tsunade's desk.<p>

"Alright, now that Naruto is here we can get down to business." Tsunade said as she took a file Shizune handed her and opened it. Naruto groaned rather loudly, not even bothering to mask his displeasure with the so-called mission Team Kurenai was about to do.

"I recently sent Team 7 out on a C-Rank mission to protect an architect that was heading to Wave Country." Tsunade started. Naruto groaned again, this time at the fact his mother was practically rubbing the fact the other genin teams were getting higher ranked missions then his team was. Tsunade glared at her son, making him shut up very quickly, as she continued,

"But the architect lied about his reasons for hiring ninja and as it turns out the mission is actually an A-Rank. Team 7's sensei sent a message stating they are going to continue the mission, but are requesting reinforcements." At this Naruto and Kiba's eyes were wide a saucers as large smiles began to form on their faces.

"Since you are the only team available, you'll be heading to Team 7's location to provide back up." Tsunade finished as she closed the file and handed it back to Shizune.

"OH YEAH!" Naruto and Kiba yelled simultaneously as Akamaru yipped happily from inside Kiba's parka. Kurenai pinched the bridge of her nose as Hinata giggled at the boy's antics. A tick mark formed on Tsunade's head as she said,

"Keep in mind that I'm only sending you because everyone else is busy with missions of their own. The minute you step foot back into Konoha it's back to D-Ranked missions!" Naruto and Kiba however were too excited and didn't here a word she said. Kurenai had to practically drag Kiba and Naruto out of the office, however as she was almost out the door, Tsunade told her to leave Naruto as she had something to tell him. Naruto looked at his mother with his arms crossed, expecting the usual "Be careful".

"Naruto I want you to be safe." Tsunade said as she motioned Shizune to fetch something from the backroom. Shizune came back with a large scroll.

"So I looked around and found something to give you a little more protection." Tsunade said as Shizune handed Naruto the scroll. Naruto was confused until Shizune said,

"It's a contract to summon crocodiles." Naruto's eyes widened as Tsunade said,

"Open it and sign your name in blood then add your fingerprints." Naruto did as instructed then made the hand signs he had seen his mother and Jiraiya do countless times, then in a puff of smoke a 10 foot long alligator[2] appeared in Tsunade's office. The gator was light green, had black eyes with red slits for pupils, and wore a brown vest that went down to the start of its tail with the kanji for gamble sown in purple on the back, similar to Tsunade's coat . The gator looked at Naruto and said in a foreign accent,

"_So dis is de new summoner of de Crocs_? _What be your name[3]?_" Naruto placed his hand on his chest and bowed as he said,

"Naruto Senju is my name, Gambit to my enemies, and gambling is most definitely my game!" at this the gator laughed and replied,

"_Oh, I don't tink we gonna have a problem with dis boy! A pleasure to make your acquaintance Na'to Senju. You and me gotta play some poker sometime, but I got me a steamin' bowl'a muskrat gumbo brewing back home so I best be going. De Crocs are at your service Lord Senju." _Naruto chuckled and said,

"Thanks, but you can just call me Naruto. By the way what's your name?" The alligator replied,

"_Very well den, Na'to it is. As for my name, you can call me Remy. Farewell for now mon ami!" _ Naruto nodded and called of the summon and after telling Tsunade and Shizune goodbye, he left to pick a few required items and then headed to the main gate to head off on his first A-Ranked mission.

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><p><strong>PLEASE REVIEW! To answer any questions, <strong>

**1: Mastermind was an X-Men villain with the ability to cast illusions and since Kurenai is a genjutsu expert it fits,**

****2:I know I said it's the Crocodile contract, but alligators are in the crocodilian family the same as gharials(which Naruto will also be able to summon)** **

**3:**Yes the Crocs will have Cajun accents since Naruto can't have one.** **


	8. The Bet

A Ninja's Gambit

Naruto and all related characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto. X-Men and all related characters belong to Marvel Comics

Chapter 8: The Bet

It had taken four days and one boat ride, but Team Kurenai had finally managed to make it to Team 7's location. As they neared the house Team 7 was staying at, they saw a masked white haired jonin reading a little orange book leaning on the side of the house. Kurenai narrowed her eyes and growled a little as she kept her eyes locked on the book, something that didn't go unnoticed by her students.

"Kakashi, would it kill you not to read that smut in front of me and my students?" Kurenai said in a strained voice, trying not to sound angry. The word "smut" caught Kiba's interest, but not Naruto's since he knew who wrote those books, what was in them, and that his mother would not hesitate to send him on a trip to Suna via her fist if he was ever caught so much as holding one. Kakashi shrugged and replied,

"Maybe. So is your team up to this? From what I've heard, all you've been doing is D-Ranks for the last two months." Kurenai narrowed her eyes as she said,

"I know my team is, but what about yours? Have you taught them anything yet?" Kakashi looked up from his book and sighed as he said,

"I taught them the tree climbing exercise while we were waiting for you." Kurenai looked at him incredulously. She taught her team that on the first day!

"Are you to lazy to teach, or are you trying to get those kids killed?" Kurenai said with venom in her voice. Kakashi closed his book and was about to respond, when a rather hate filled voice said,

"What is he doing here?" Everyone turned to see one Sasuke Uchiha staring daggers at Naruto. Behind him was the pink haired harpy herself Sakura Haruno, who was also glaring at the blond, and boy who wore a high collared jacket with sunglasses.

"Don't tell me you're still mad about that little spar? Had I known you were so under trained I would have gone easy on you." Naruto said in what sounded like a completely sincere voice, but his team knew otherwise.

"STOP TALKING DOWN TO SASUKE! HE COULD WIPE THE FLOOR WITH YOU!" Sakura screeched, as Naruto rolled his orange eyes. It was times like this he really wished he could hit a girl. But alas his principles wouldn't allow it unless she was trying to kill him, then she would be fair game.

"Yeah loser, why don't you fight me for real? None of those stupid cards or that staff, just you and me." Sasuke said as he cracked his knuckles. Naruto thought for a moment before saying,

"Sure, why not? But how about we make things more interesting. If I win, then you have to do whatever I want without question for a week. If you win, I'll teach you any and all jutsu I know, and since I'm the son of one of the Sannin you can bet I know plenty. So what do you say?" The Uchiha smirked confidently and agreed. Naruto walked over to Kiba and took off his trench coat which he handed to his feral friend. Kurenai and Kakashi silently decided not to interfere. Kakashi because he felt Sasuke could take the blond no problem, and Kurenai because she knew what Naruto was capable of. Naruto and Sasuke walked distance away from each other. Sasuke made the first move by running toward Naruto, with a fist aimed for his face. Naruto simply stood still as Sasuke came ever closer. Just as the Uchiha was about to make contact with Naruto's face, the blond gambler quickly leaned backward at a 50 degree angle barely dodging. Gambit kicked the Uchiha hard in the shin, then quickly got Sasuke into a headlock followed by a hard punch to the face which knocked him out cold. Naruto let his new servant for the next week.

* * *

><p>Sasuke awoke to a massive headache. He looked around and saw that he was in the room he was sharing with Shino and Sakura. He saw it was already night out as he sat up on the couch he was laying on.<p>

"SASUKE YOU'RE AWAKE!" Screeched Sakura as she entered the room and rushed to his side. Sasuke groaned and rubbed his aching head.

"Ah, there's my servant." A slightly raspy voice called from the doorway. It was Naruto with a very pleased smile on his face.

"Like I'm gonna do that you idiot." Sasuke all but growled out. Naruto chuckled as he did several hand signs and said,

"Summoning Jutsu." and in a puff of smoke a 15 foot dark green crocodile, with green eyes and red slits for pupils, who wore a black vest with the kanji for punishment sown in purple on the back appeared.

"WHERE'D THAT THING COME FROM?" Sakura yelled. Naruto replied,

"He's a summon. I have a summoning contract with Crocodiles, which happen to include alligators, caiman and gharials."

"_Dis de guy you told me 'bout Na'to?" _The croc asked in a deep foreign accent, which freaked Sakura out who yelled,

"IT CAN TALK?" Both Naruto and the crocodile ignored her as Naruto said,

"Why yes he is Batsu. We made a bet and like I predicted he isn't going to fulfill his end of it, so I was hoping you could persuade him." the croc smiled and quickly lunged at Sasuke and clamped it's large mouth down on his forearm. The croc's bite was light at first but it kept increasing the pressure until it's teeth were really digging into the Uchiha's arm. Suddenly Sasuke felt his bone begin to crack in the crocodile's jaw and he began to scream.

"That's enough Batsu[1], I think he gets it." Naruto said as the croc then released Sasuke's now bleeding and possibly broken forearm.

"_Alright Na'to, let me know if he give ya anymore trouble." _Naruto then called off the summon and said,

"Just so you know, I play for keeps. You make a bet with me then you better be ready to pay up. Also I can summon Batsu anytime I want to remind you of your obligation." Naruto then walked out of the room, leaving a worried Sakura and a pissed off Sasuke. As he closed the door to the room he saw Kurenai standing there.

"You didn't have to be so rough Naruto." The crimson eyed woman said as she gave Naruto a stern look.

"I know Sasukes type. He won't pay up unless he's given a little pressure." Naruto said nonchalantly as he began to shuffle his cards and walked downstairs.

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><p><strong>PLEASE REVIEW! Also get ready for some major action next chapter!<strong>

**1. Batsu is an enforcer of the Crocs, and he makes sure you pay up one way or another. Also Batsu is the Japanese word for punishment. **


	9. The Silver Demon of the Mist

A Ninja's Gambit

Naruto and all related characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto. X-Men and all related characters belong to Marvel Comics

Chapter 9: The Silver Demon of the Mist

Naruto sighed as he walked through the forest that surrounded Tazuna's house, shuffling his cards like he usually did when he was thinking. He was fairly bored since he had just about run out of ideas for humiliating things for Sasuke to do and it was only the third day of his servitude. Naruto had the Uchiha dance in his underwear while saying "I'm a bedwetter "over and over, much to Sakura's horror and Naruto and Kiba's delight. He had him pick up Akamaru's yard droppings with his bare hands, and even made him yell at the top of his lungs to everyone in the house that he was gay which probably branded him for life in the Land of Water, and that was only the tip of the iceberg. And it was all thanks to Batsu who made sure Sasuke kept up with it, but Naruto was still depressed that he couldn't think of anything else. He thought about having Sasuke lick the dirt off Akamaru, but Kiba objected to that as he didn't want Sasuke that close to his little buddy.

As Naruto walked through the woods he came across something that really caught his attention. He saw a girl picking some type of plants which, if he remembered the medical journals Tsunade made him read correctly, were medicinal plants. The girl in question was very beautiful and wore a pink sleeveless low-cut kimono, with pale red edges and decorated with small plum-coloured swirls that went to her ankles. Around her waist was a simple white obi tied in a bow, and she wore a pair of light brown sandals with dark straps. She had long black hair and dark brown eyes, and in Naruto's gentlemanly opinion was a total knock out! Not that he would ever say that out loud to a member of the fairer sex, after all Tsunade hadn't spent almost his entire childhood hammering chivalry into him for nothing.

"I know you're there." The girl said as she kept picking plants. Naruto was startled that she noticed him, but then again he wasn't exactly sneaking around either.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you." Naruto said as he walked up to the girl.

"You're fine. In all honesty I was getting a little lonely being out here by myself." The girl said as she finally looked up at Naruto. She stayed silent for a moment, taking in Naruto's attire and his very odd orange and black eyes.

"You're a ninja aren't you?" The girl questioned the blond gambler, which caused Naruto to laugh as he continued to shuffle his cards in a more dynamic fashion.

"Why yes I am, but that's only one side of me. I'm also a gambler, and above all else a gentleman." Naruto said as he began to slip his cards around in a showboating manner. The girl chuckled and replied,

"I can't say that I've ever met a ninja quite like you." It was Naruto's turn to chuckle as he said,

"I'm one of a kind all right." Naruto suddenly stopped shuffling his cards and put them back into his coat as he said,

"Where are my manners? I forgot to introduce myself! Naruto Gambit Senju at your service madame!" This caused the girl to laugh as she replied,

"My name's Haku. Gambit huh? That's a rather odd name." Naruto smirked and replied,

"It's a nickname of sorts that I picked up a few years ago, but only my enemies call me that." Haku looked at him curiously and replied,

"And what enemies would that be?" Naruto shrugged and replied,

"Mainly sore losers I beat at poker." At this Haku laughed. Naruto then volunteered to help her collect her plants as he had nothing better to do, and he was always willing to lend a helping hand to a pretty lady. After fifteen minutes of silently collecting plants, Haku suddenly asked,

"Do you have anyone important to you?" Naruto was a little surprised by the sudden question, but answered,

"I have a few." Haku nodded and said,

"And why did you become a ninja?" To this Naruto responded,

"Mainly to honor the memories of my Uncle and a man that was very close to my mother." Haku, having finished collecting all the plants she needed, replied

"Remember that if you want to become strong enough to honor them, you must protect those close to you. Only when protecting something important does someone become truly strong." And with that Haku bid Naruto a farewell and left. Naruto smiled, he didn't figure out what to have Sasuke do next but he made a new friend.

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><p>It was a cloudy day as the Konoha ninja escorted Tazuna the nearly finished bridge. Naruto and Kiba were a little bored, but they were still happy to be out of the village.<p>

"Man, I wish something exciting would happen." Kiba said as he walked next to Naruto, who was twirling his staff around.

"Careful what you wish for Kiba." Suddenly the area began to fill up with a thick mist. Hinata activated her Byakugan and said,

"T-there's chakra in this m-mist." Naruto then glared at Kiba who chuckled sheepishly as Akamaru began to growl at something in the mist. Suddenly a voice called out saying,

"Alright, now since you got more kids with ya, I'll give ya one more chance to hand over the old man quietly." Naruto readied his staff and took out a couple of cards, Akamura got in front of Kiba who drew a kunai, Hinata got into her Gentle Fist stance, as the rest also got ready for battle. Suddenly a man with his mouth wrapped with gauze, who wore a navy blue sleeveless shirt with silver shoulder pads and gauntlets. He also had a sword roughly the size of a katana with a butcher knife motif. It was Zabuza Momochi, better known as the Silver Demon of the Mist.

"Have it your way." Zabuza said as he held his sword out which began to glow with a silvery aura. The Silver Demon charged for the old man with amazing speed, but Naruto got in his way attempting to block with his staff. However Zabuza slashed through the steel staff as if it were air, shocking Naruto who barely had enough time to dodge the blade. Naruto didn't give up as he struck the nuke-nin with a card, but instead of exploding they sent him flying back a few yards[1]. Everyone looked at him curiously before he said,

"I'm not all about the boom." Kiba saw that Zabuza was a little disoriented and decided to make his move

"Let's get him Akamaru!" Kiba yelled as he and his canine partner charged at the Silver Demon.

"KIBA WAIT!" Kurenai yelled as she saw Zabuza raise his sword and make a stab at Kiba, but Akamaru leaped in front of his master, taking the attack for him. The dog whined a little before going quiet.

"AKAMARU!" Kiba yelled in anger and fear, as he fell to his knees in shock. Zabuza threw the dog off his blade and mumbled,

"Stupid dog." No one else would have heard this but Kiba with his enhanced hearing heard it very well. The Inuzuka, began to growl and drew a kunai to attack, but was stabbed in the gut by Zabuza. Kiba coughed up blood as Zabuza began to laugh as he kicked the body off his blade. Naruto began to glare at the man and took out several cards, charging them possibly enough chakra to blow the entire bridge.

"Crazy kid, all that emotion over a dumb animal." Zabuza said as he walked forward, ready to continue his attack on Tazuna. But as he began to charge again, he heard a growl from behind him. He turned and saw that it was coming from Kiba, who slowly began to stand much to everyone's surprise. Suddenly Kiba began to scream as he clenched his fists tightly. Blood began to flow from in between his knuckles, and it looked like something else was slowly coming from where the blood was flowing. With one final scream, three black claws erupted from between the knuckles of each of his his hands. The claws were roughly 12 inches long and were serrated underneath. Kiba looked up at Zabuza, his eyes now golden instead of black, and roared as he charged forward with his new claws.

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><p><strong>PLEASE REVIEW!<strong>

**1. This is how Gambit's powers worked in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, where instead of exploding he could make things hit with a lot more force.**

**Also I know I said I would only do Gambit for this story, but don't worry Kiba won't be a carbon copy of Wolverine like I had him originally. Also Zabuza's powers are like the Silver Samurai's, a villain from the X-Men and a major enemy of Wolverine. The way his powers work is that he can channel energy into on object and make it the sharpest thing on the planet, which means he could cut a car in half with a stick basically. I figure that since this is an X-Men crossover I should be able to give some characters powers from the X-Men or Brotherhood of Mutants. Don't worry though I won't go crazy with it =)**


	10. The Animal Unleashed

A Ninja's Gambit

Naruto and all related characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto. X-Men and all related characters belong to Marvel Comics

Chapter 10: The Animal Unleashed

Kiba charged with animal like rage, slashing and hacking at Zabuza with his claws, while everyone else was in total shock at this turn of events. One minute it looked like Kiba was dead, the next he seemed to have healed and now had claws coming from his knuckles. Naruto was the most stunned since, although glad to see his best friend was alive, he was a little afraid of him as he had never seen Kiba this vicious. Sure he would always get a little carried away when they trained, but Naruto couldn't get over the sheer killing intent he had in his now golden eyes. Zabuza knew he was in trouble, so he made a last ditch effort to take care of the clawed ninja.

"HAKU, NOW!" Zabuza yelled as he kicked Kiba hard in the gut, sending him back a few feet. Kiba snarled and was about to begin his barrage again but several ice mirrors began to form around the Inuzuka.

"KIBA!" Naruto yelled as he ran over to his friend to try to help, but was soon trapped along side Kiba in the icy prison. Both genin looked around and and saw that the mirrors began to form together to create an ice dome. Naruto thought for a moment before he realized what Zabuza had said before the ice began to form.

"It couldn't be her." Naruto whispered as he began to pace around thinking.

"Couldn't be who?" Kiba said in a slight growl. Naruto mentally cursed himself for forgetting Kiba had enhanced hearing.

"I met someone in the forest yesterday, and her name was Haku." Naruto said almost disbelievingly. The girl he met in the forest didn't look like she could hurt a fly let alone make an ice prison. Then again looks can be deceiving, that was true in the life of a gambler and a ninja. Suddenly a figure appeared in the reflective ice, wearing the mask of a hunter-nin. Said figure wore a moss green, striped turtle-neck sweater and a split skirt in matching colour that reached down to it's knees. On the outside of that, the figure wore a green blue short kimono with white edges, and around the waist a green brown obi, in the same fabric as it's sweater, with a fringed trail. The reason both genin thought of the figure as an it was because it's clothes seemed to be iced over along with it's hair. Naruto chanced a guess and said,

"It's you isn't it Haku?" The person removed the mask, revealing it to indeed be Haku, and replied,

"Yes. I'm sorry I must do this, but Master Zabuza commands it." At this point Kiba was getting angry, well angrier, and said,

"Yeah well your master killed Akamaru, and you're not gonna stop me from killing him!" Kiba then began trying to slash his way out with his claws, but he was barely scratching the ice.

"I'm sorry for your loss, but I cannot allow you to harm Master Zabuza." Haku said in a cold voice as she held her hand out and an ice needle formed in it, which she threw at Kiba's shoulder. Kiba snarled at her as he noticed that the ice needle made it impossible to move his arm. The clawed genin then began to rip the needle out, causing his shoulder to bleed profusely for a moment before it stopped. Naruto was highly curious at this point and grabbed a hold of Kiba's shoulder and tore a hole in his parka to get a look at his wound, but was surprised to see that there wasn't one!

"Kiba, can everyone in your clan heal like this?" Naruto asked in an unsure tone.

"Nope and no one else has claws like these either." Kiba said as he held up his claws for emphasis. Naruto decided to question this later, as he turned back to the image of Haku in the ice.

"I know you aren't going to kill us." The ice user took a step back and replied in a slightly shaky voice,

"What makes you so sure?" Naruto smirked and replied,

"I'm a good judge of character, and when we talked yesterday I knew you had killed before. I saw it in your eyes, but I also saw that you only did so because it was absolutely necessary" Haku wanted to protest so she could keep up her charade, but she couldn't.

"I also have a feeling that Zabuza did something for you didn't he?" Naruto asked, genuinely curious.

"People in Kirigakure despise those with bloodlines. When I was five years old my father killed my mother because she had a kekkei genkai, but I managed to get away. Zabuza saved me from a life of begging on the street, and gave me a purpose." Haku replied in a somber voice. Naruto nodded and said,

"What if I told you that people in Konohagakure are the exact opposite to the people in Kiri?" Haku looked surprised to hear this as Naruto continued,

"There are entire clans of people with bloodlines, not to mention the fact a lot of them command a great deal of respect in the village." Haku was speechless. Zabuza had told her that he wished to make Kiri like that, but she never expected that there was a place like that actually existed!

"We can take you there, and my mother happens to be the Hokage so I can make sure that you'll have a nice place to live. But we need to get out of here and help our friends. I can't promise that Zabuza won't be killed, but I promise that I'll give him a chance to surrender peacefully." Naruto said sincerely. Haku thought for a moment and said,

"I accept your offer." And with that Haku dropped the ice dome.

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><p>Zabuza was pitched in heated combat with Kakashi and Kurenai. Kurenai had managed to put him in a layered genjutsu to prevent him from breaking out of it so easily while Kakashi stabbed him in both arms, making it impossible for him to move them. Kakashi then prepared a Chidori, and ran toward the Silver Demon with a lightning covered hand, but before he could make contact, Zabuza was tackled to the ground by Kiba.<p>

"This is for Akamaru!" Kiba said as he popped his claws and was about to stab Zabuza in the head, but was stopped by a hand that clamped down on his wrist. The feral genin looked up and saw it was Naruto.

"I promised Haku we'd give him a chance." Naruto said as Kiba growled, but relented. Zabuza then noticed Haku standing next to Naruto and yelled,

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Haku replied,

"I wish to go to Konohagakure. I've made a deal with Naruto Senju," Haku then motioned to Naruto as she continued, "that he and his team will not kill you, but you will still be turned over to Kirigakure." Zabuza looked betrayed and replied,

"After all I did for you, you'd turn on me like this?" Haku looked away and said,

"I'm doing what I must. I'll always remember what you did for me, but I have found a new place to call home. A place where no one will hate or fear me." Zabuza wanted to argue but couldn't as he understood why she had to do this. Haku looked back at her master as he nodded, giving his approval of her decision. However the silence didn't last long as a large group of armed men came up on the bridge with their leader being a rather short and pudgy man. It was Gato, the one who hired Zabuza.

"Well it's true what they say, if you want something done right you gotta do it yourself! KILL THEM ALL!" Gato yelled as his men readied their weapons. Zabuza got up and said,

"Haku, hand me my sword." Haku held the sword up to him as he took a hold of the hilt with his teeth. Kiba snarled and popped his claws again glaring daggers at Gato, causing Zabuza to look at him curiously.

"Since I can't kill you, that guy's the next best thing." Kiba said as he began to roar and charged at the gang, an action Zabuza mirrored. Everyone watched in horror as Kiba and Zabuza tear through the gang, each taking many stabs and slashes of their own. But the difference between the two was that Kiba was healing at an amazing rate, while Zabuza just kept pushing through the pain and injuries. Finally the reached Gato, as Kiba stabbed him in the chest with both sets of claws and Zabuza sliced him in half easily. Zabuza dropped his sword and fell over dead after laughing for a moment. Haku rushed to his side and cried for her fallen master, who had been like a father to her. As she cried she felt a hand on her shoulder, causing her to look up and see Naruto who said,

"I'm sorry."

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><p><strong>PLEASE REVIEW! <strong>

**Also if you're wondering why Haku seemed to give in so easily, it's because Naruto charmed her. To put it simply since Naruto has Gambit's powers, he also has Gambit's ability to charm people. It's actually a power that let's Gambit exert a subtle influence over people leading them to believe what he says or agree with his suggestions. This power doesn't work if someone knows about it however, which is why Naruto didn't use it on Tsunade.**


	11. The Legacy of Kuzuri

A Ninja's Gambit

Naruto and all related characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto. X-Men and all related characters belong to Marvel Comics

Author's Note: With 11 votes Hana and 5 votes Haku, so I'm going with NarutoxHana. Also this chapter will be a little Kiba centric.

Chapter 11: The Legacy of Kuzuri

Team's Kakashi and Kurenai was about two miles outside of Konoha. All they had to do next was report to Tsunade, and set Haku up with a home. Kiba was silent the entire trip back, only grunting yes or no when asked a question. Naruto, Hinata, and Kurenai knew to give him space, though the same couldn't be said for Sakura as she made the nearly fatal mistake of telling Kiba he should try to get a new "pet". Needless to say this nearly got her stabbed in the head courtesy of Kiba's claws, if not for the timely intervention of Kurenai and Kakashi, though she still got a bad cut on her arms when she threw them up to defend herself. While Kurenai reprimanded Kiba for his behavior, she still treated him with some sympathy given his current situation. Naruto, while he had never lost someone close to him, tried to sympathize the best he could with his friend. Kiba however just didn't want to hear it and politely, well as polite as he could be in his current mood, asked Naruto to leave him alone. At any rate they reached Konohagakure soon enough and headed straight for the Hokage Tower. As they entered Tsunade's office, Naruto was instantly snatched up in a hug by Shizune.

"Naruto you're okay!" Shizune said as she began to hug her little brother tighter and tighter. Tsunade cleared her throat as she said,

"I think Naruto needs to breath Shizune." Naruto silently thanked his mother as Shizune let him go, feeling rather embarrassed that she did that in front of everyone.

"So I assume the mission went well? And who's this?" Tsunade asked Kakashi and Kurenai.

"Yes Lady Tsunade, the mission went well and the bridge has been completed." Kakashi said in his usual aloof tone.

"And this young girl is Zabuza Momochi's adopted daughter of sorts, Haku Yuki." Kurenai said as Haku stepped forward. At this point Naruto stepped in and explained the deal he made with Haku, and Tsunade was willing to let her stay in the village much to Naruto's relief.

"However Lady Tsunade, I'm afraid that Kiba's partner Akamaru did not make it." Kurenai said somberly as she glanced at Kiba, who had his head hung a little low.

"I'm sorry to hear that. I'll call Tsume in so she make arrangements for the burial." Tsunade said as she called for an ANBU to fetch the head of the Inuzuka Clan.

"When she gets here, ask her why Kiba has claws coming out of his knuckles." Naruto said as he leaned on Tsunade's desk. The Slug Sannin looked at her son the back to Kurenai and asked,

"What does Naruto mean?" Kurenai turned to Kiba and said,

"Kiba, you need to show the Hokage." Kiba sighed and crossed his fists over his chest and popped his claws. Tsunade and Shizune were speechless, they had never seen an Inuzuka do that before.

"Does it hurt when they come out?" Tsunade asked as she finally found her voice. Kiba retracted the claws and replied,

"Every time." Tsunade then got up from her desk and walked over to feral genin and looked at his hands.

"Not even a scratch." Tsunade said as she let go off Kiba's hands.

"Yeah, I kinda heal really fast now." Kiba said in a less than enthusiastic tone.

"Fast? You were taking swords and knives all over you, and you don't even have a scar to show for it!" Naruto said as he wrapped his arm around his best friend, trying to lighten his mood if only a little. However it was at this exact moment that Tsume and her dog Kuromaru entered, having been only a little piece from the Hokage Tower.

"What's this about Kiba taking swords and knives?" Tsume said as she went over to her son looking him over. But she stopped dead in her tracks when she saw that her son's eyes were now yellow.

"Let me see them Kiba." Tsume said in an even tone. Kiba looked at her curiously before asking,

"See what Mom?" Tsume then grabbed a hold of Kiba's wrist and held it up as she said,

"You know what I mean." Kiba then popped the claws in the hand his mother was holding, allowing her to see them clearly. The were a shiny black, like a dogs claw and serrated on the bottom.

"Kakashi, you and your team are dismissed. Naruto why don't you and Hinata go show Haku around?" Tsunade said quickly, seeing no need in them being there anymore. Once Kakashi's team had gone, Naruto put up a fight but a glare from Tsunade made him practically drag the two girls out of the office.

"I take it you know what's happened to Kiba?" Tsunade said as she looked back and forth between Tsume and her son. Tsume nodded and replied,

"It seems he's awakened the secret bloodline of the Inuzuka Clan." Everyone's eyes widened as soon as they heard this.

"I take it not everyone in your clan has this secret bloodline?" Tsunade asked, her curiosity almost boiling over.

"No. In fact it's a recent development that started with my father." Tsume said, as she began to tell how this new kekkei genkai started. It turned out that her father Kuzuri[1] was actually a dog hanyo that her mother, Mariko[2], had met while on a mission and they fell in love. They soon married and Mariko gave birth to Tsume. However one day when Tsume was four years old, Kuzuri disappeared. Mariko was heartbroken, until she found a letter Kuzuri wrote her before he left. It said he had to leave because he sensed an old enemy of his, Touha[3], was coming for him and would have killed them if he didn't leave. His letter went on to say that while Tsume might not inherit his hanyo traits, her children most probably would. These traits would include golden eyes, retractable claws, and an amazing healing factor.

"So you never inherited these traits?" Tsunade asked as she digested Tsume's story. Tsume sighed and as she responded,

"Well, yes and no." Everyone raised an eyebrow at this as Kiba asked,

"What's that mean Mom?" Tsume sighed as she said,

"While I didn't get my father's traits, I still inherited some hanyo traits." This caused Tsunade to ask,

"Such as?" Tsume stayed quiet for a few moments before she said,

"I can turn into a wolf." Everyone fell over anime style after they heard this. After recomposing herself, Tsunade said,

"Care to give us a demonstration?" Tsume nodded and took a deep breath as dark brown hair began to cover her body, her natural Inuzuka nails growing into full blown claws, as he face began to take on a more animal like appearance until it looked extremely similar to a wolfs head. After she was done, Tsume said in a growl like voice to the too stunned to move group,

"This is only my half transformation. I'd do the full one if not for the fact it'd ruin my clothes." Tsunade, Kurenai, and Kiba were to shocked to even say anything, while Shizune had fainted. Thinking she might of broken them, Tsume turned back to normal. After shaking off the shock, Tsunade said,

"How come you've never shown this to anyone else?" Tsume replied,

"It's not like my pups would inherit this ability anyway, so I didn't see much of a reason to announce it to everyone." Tsunade sat back in her chair, fighting back a migraine as she said,

"You're all dismissed. Kiba, you can tell your teammates about the exact details if you want but please keep this under wraps to everyone else until we can test out just what you're capable of now." Kurenai disappeared in a puff of smoke, while Tsume walked out of the office with her arm around her son.

"I'm sorry about Akamaru Kiba." Kuromaru said as they exited the tower. Kiba only nodded to let him know he had heard him. Tsume stopped walking and gave Kiba big hug as she said,

"I know you miss him Kiba, but that's what happens on missions. It could have been Naruto or that Hyuga girl, and as much as I don't like to think about it, it could have been you." Kiba just stayed quiet as he began to hug his mother back.

"Well I don't think that'll be a problem anymore, not since I'm unkillable now." Kiba suddenly said with a little humor in his voice, trying to lighten the mood just a little. This however earned him a slap upside the head as Tsume said,

"Don't get cocky pup! Just because you can heal fast doesn't mean you can't die!" Kiba looked at his mother with a serious expression and replied,

"Maybe, but at least this means it'll take a whole lot to take me out." Tsume laughed as they broke their embrace and continued to walk.

'I hope you're right Kiba.' Tsume thought as they walked to the Inuzuka compound.

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><p><strong>PLEASE REVIEW!<strong>

**1. It's the Japanese word for "Wolverine" **

**2. Mariko was the name of one of Wolverine's major love interest's**

**3. It loosely translate's from Japanese as "Sabretooth"**

**Also Tsume's powers are like Wolfsbane's powers. Wolfsbane is a mutant and has the power to transform herself into a wolf, while retaining most of her human intelligence, or into a transitional werewolf-like form which combines both human and wolf-like characteristics. Special thanks to YoukoTaichou for this idea.**


	12. Meeting the Dogs

A Ninja's Gambit

Naruto and all related characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto. X-Men and all related characters belong to Marvel Comics

Chapter 12: Meeting with the Dogs

Naruto ran across the village like a man on a mission, which was odd given the fact that he wasn't on a mission, well not an official one anyway. No this was a personal matter for blond. As Naruto continued to run he saw his target coming up, the Inuzuka Compound, and he really laid on the speed. Now you may be wondering why he was running and the answer is simple, Tsunade asked him to go over to see Kiba and test out the exact limits of his new kekkei genkai. Now while it wasn't an official mission per-se, more like a favor really, but Naruto was excited to see what his feral best friend was capable of now! He might even be able to show off his summons as, aside from seeing Batsu briefly, Kiba hadn't really got see them during the wave mission and was to depressed to really care on the way back. But Gambit also had an ulterior motive to this. He hoped that perhaps training and getting to see his summons in action might get his mind off Akamaru. Naruto entered the front gate, and headed up to the front door.

"Kiba? It's me Naruto!" Naruto yelled as he rang the doorbell once again. As Naruto was about to ring the bell again, the door opened to reveal a girl around 16 who was wearing a simple brown t shirt and blue sweat pants, and was also the only non-feral looking Inuzuka that Naruto had ever seen. While he had never met her, Naruto assumed it was Kiba's sister Hana.

"So you're the Naruto Kiba told me about, I'm Kiba's sister Hana. I'm sorry but he doesn't really feel like company right now." Hana said introducing herself, starting cheerfully but ending somberly. Naruto nodded and replied,

"I understand, but Mom wants me to test Kiba's new abilities out then report back." Hana sighed and let him in as she said,

"You're welcome to try, but even Mom hasn't been able to get him out of his room." Naruto gave a small smile in appreciation and entered, taking his sandals off, as Hana lead him up to Kiba's room.

"Kiba! Your friend Naruto's here, and he says the Hokage sent him to test out your new bloodline." Hana said as she knocked on her little brother's door. Groaning could be heard from the other of the door that to Naruto sounded like "Go away", but Hana's enhanced hearing heard it clearly.

"Kiba, the Hokage wants to test your new bloodline, and truthfully so do I since I might be getting it to." Hana said trying to coax Kiba out, but to no avail. Hana looked at Naruto with an apologetic look, but Naruto motioned at the door silently asking for permission to give it a try. Hana stepped away, allowing Naruto to walk up to the door as he yelled,

"KIBA IF YOU DON'T GET OUT OF THAT ROOM, I'LL BLOW THIS DOOR UP!" Hana was slightly shocked by Naruto's sudden loudness and also by his threat. Kiba had told his family about Naruto's explosive powers, so she knew he was more than capable of making good on his threat.

"GO AWAY!" Kiba yelled back from behind the door. Naruto frowned as he nodded and stepped back away from the door. He reached into his trench coat and looked around for the scroll he kept his staff in, then face-palmed as he remembered he forgot to buy a new one. Naruto sighed as he instead pulled out a card. Hana had an uneasy feeling about what Naruto was about to do based on Kiba's stories about the blond. Naruto, sensing her unease, said,

"Don't worry, I won't blow the door up." Hana relaxed, but then began to wonder what exactly he planned to do. The card began to glow orange as Naruto threw it at the door, but instead of an explosion, it simply knocked the door down. Hana stared at Naruto, then the busted door in disbelief, wondering what he just did.

"In addition to making things blow up, I can also make things hit with a lot more force. That card right there hit with about the same force as a cannonball." Naruto said as he walked inside Kiba's room. Kiba growled as he got off his bed and scowled at his soon to be ex-best friend. Naruto smirked and said,

"Sorry Kiba, but I'm gonna catch some major hell if I don't report anything back to Mom. So are you ready to show off a little?" Kiba gave a toothy grin, before lunging at Naruto and tackling out of his room. Hana laughed, the broken door forgotten for the moment, as the boys wrestled around on the floor, before Naruto kicked Kiba off him and threw a card at him, blasting him out the open window behind him and into the back yard. Naruto and Hana heard Kiba yelling various curse words as he had apparently landed on a dog turd. Hana made a mental note to tell their mother about his colorful language when she got home.

"Test one, check. Subject can survive a fall from a second story window." Naruto said as he scribbled down on a note pad.

"Um, a lot, if not every ninja could and can survive a fall from that height." Hana said as she tried looked out the window to see Kiba running around the house, no doubt to get Naruto back for that.

"I know, but Mom told me to write down whatever I do to him." Hana nodded as Kiba ran up the stares, his claws now out, and again lunged at Naruto, who side-stepped allowing Kiba to leap right back out the window.

"Test two, check. Subject can survive repeated falls from a two story window." Naruto said as he again scribbled down on his notepad. This time however, instead of going through the front door, Kiba had opted to climb up the side of the house by using his claws like a mad animal instead of using his chakra control. Naruto and Hana watched on as Naruto quickly wrote down,

"Test three, check. Subject can scale surfaces quickly with claws." Kiba then climbed through the window and grabbed Naruto by his shirt and raised his claws as he snarled. Naruto handed his pad and pencil to Hana as he said,

"Write this down. Subject seems to have increased temper." At this Kiba said,

"No, I'd still be this mad if you threw me out a window twice and made me land in crap even if I didn't have this kekkei genkai." Hana placed her hand on Kiba's arm and said,

"Kiba, Naruto was trying to help you." Kiba was about to question this, since he thought he was fine until Naruto came over.

"You know what I mean. He's trying to help you figure this out, so both of us can know what to expect." Hana said as Kiba retracted his claws and let Naruto go. Naruto readjusted his coat and said,

"Well now might be a good time to mention that my Mom figured out that the trigger for this is anger." Kiba and Hana looked at the gambling genin curiously before he continued,

"Come on, don't tell me you haven't figured it out yet Kiba. You were the angriest I've ever seen you about what Zabuza did, and all of a sudden you just happened to get claws and the ability to heal from anything in a few seconds? Can't be a coincidence." Hana and Kiba nodded in realization.

"So that means I have to get as angry as Kiba? How do I do that?" Hana asked as she looked down at her hands, imagining them with claws. Naruto thought for a moment before saying,

"Well, and don't quote me on this, pain is always a good way to get angry real fast. Don't expect me to do it though, I don't hurt woman unless they're trying to kill me." Hana nodded, deciding that maybe she could have Tsume help her with this. While she wasn't exactly thrilled about the idea of constantly hurting herself to awaken her bloodline, Hana had to admit that being able to heal as fast as Kiba could now would be worth it.

"Alright now since that's taken care of, me and Kiba got some testing to do!" Naruto said as he grabbed Kiba and began to drag him outside. Hana chuckled a little at this before she looked at Kiba's busted door and sighed.

"I'll take care of the door, don't worry!" Naruto yelled from downstairs, causing Hana to smile.

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><p><strong>PLEASE REVIEW! I felt like adding a little humor in this chapter.<strong>


	13. Countdown to the Chunin Exams

A Ninja's Gambit

Naruto and all related characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto. X-Men and all related characters belong to Marvel Comics

Author's Note: I decided to add a little more to this chapter as I felt that what I originally wrote was a little lacking.

Chapter 13: Countdown to the Chunin Exams

Naruto, Kiba, and Hinata were headed to the park where they usually met Kurenai for missions. Yes missions, after finding out how well Naruto handled himself on his first A-Ranked mission, and after some persuasion from Kurenai and Shizune, Tsunade decided to give Team Kurenai a few C-Ranked missions every once and a while. That was two months ago and Team Kurenai had completed 4 C-Rank missions and 55 D-Rank missions. Even during all this time however, Kiba still refused to get a new dog partner, and got extremely angry every time someone brought it up. Kiba also gotten rid of his parka as he didn't feel comfortable wearing it without Akamaru being in it. No, Kiba now wore a red leather jacket that was a few inches below his waste with a white tank-top underneath, black jeans, steel-toe boots, and Kiba's forehead protector now acted as a belt buckle[1]. Kiba had also let his hair grow out, as it was now around his shoulders.

"So what do you think Kurenai sensei wants to meet about? We just got back from a mission a few hours ago." Naruto asked Kiba as he walked with his hands behind his head. Kiba shrugged and replied,

"Dunno, maybe we get to help out on another A-Rank?" At this point Hinata decided to jump into the conversation and said,

"I don't t-think so, after all that seemed like a one t-time thing." Kiba frowned and slowly nodded as he said,

"To bad, I've been itching to give these babies a test run." the feral genin then popped his claws, but this time there was a metallic sound, like that of a sword unsheathing. Kiba then held up his claws but they were now metal instead of the dog claw like look they originally possessed. This was a recent development for Kiba as one day when training his claws began to hurt as they began growing the metallic substance[2]. Tsume and Hana were worried and took him to see Tsunade, who had the metal tested and it turned out that it was stronger than steel and sharper than titanium! After running the claw's properties through every known metal, Tsunade found a match in the extremely rare metal known as Adamantium that was well known to be indestructible. It seemed that this was also a side effect of this new bloodline. Soon the genin reached the park with Kurenai waiting for them with three forms.

"What's with the forms sensei?" Naruto asked as he plopped down on a park bench and stretched out.

"The Chunin Exams are a week away, and I've recommended all of you. Fill these out and you'll be officially entered." Kurenai said as she handed the forms out. Naruto, Hinata, and Kiba each took theirs as Kurenai handed them each a pen.

"Now before you start to fill those out, you all have to agree to join or you can't enter. I also have to warn you that it isn't uncommon for people to die in these Exams. In fact, of only one person is killed in the Exams it's considered unusual." Kurenai said, causing her students to freeze for a few moments. Naruto took out his cards and closed his eyes as he began to shuffle them, a clear sign that he was seriously thinking about this before he began to fill his form. Kiba immediately began to fill his form out, highly confident in his own skills and the fact that his healing factor would make sure he didn't die. Hinata on the other hand decided to take her form home to give herself more time to think this over. Naruto and Kiba weren't about to pressure her into this, knowing how sensitive she was, and would just have to wait and see.

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><p>Naruto and Kiba walked around Konoha, feeling rather anxious about what Hinata would do in regards to the Chunin Exams. Kiba wanted to try and talk her into it, but Kurenai and Naruto told him that Hinata needed to make the decision on her own.<p>

"So, ya think Hinata's gonna back out?" Kiba asked as he walked with his hands in his pockets. Naruto shrugged and replied,

"Dunno, but whatever she does we support her. She already has self-esteem issues and us ragging on her for backing out might really upset her." Kiba sighed and nodded. Sure he really wanted to become a chunin, but he wasn't about to pressure Hinata into something she wasn't ready for. As the duo walked around town, they came across something that didn't sit well with them. It was someone in an all black outfit with purple face paint and a black cat-like cowl, and something wrapped in bandages on his back, threatening an eight year old boy.

"Don't you know it's rude to run into someone? I need to teach you some manners!" The person said as he lifted the boy up by his shirt.

"Come on Kankuro, let the kid go." A blond girl with 4 pigtails, who had what looked like a giant folding fan on her back, said as she rolled her eyes at the assaulter.

"Just gimme a minute here Temari!" Kiba began to growl and was about to pop his claws, but Naruto placed his hand on the feral ninja's shoulder as he said,

"Lemme handle this." Naruto took out a card and began to flip it as he walked over to the make-up wearer. Kiba stayed back and smirked as he knew what was gonna happen next.

"Excuse me, but could you let the kid go?" Naruto said politely, smiling as he kept flipping his card around.

"Get outta here before your next pal!" Kankuro said as he held a fist toward the boy. Gambit stopped flipping his card as it began to glow.

"Okay, hard way it is." Naruto said as he was about to throw the card, but before he could a cold voice said,

"Kankuro, put the boy down." Everyone turned to see a red haired boy with the kanji for love on his forehead, who was wearing a dark green shirt with brown horizontal stripes, baggy pants, with a belt across his chest with a headband that hung on it around his waste. The thing that really caught Naruto's attention however was the black rings around his eyes, and the fact that he had no eyebrows!

"Sure thing Gaara, no problem!" Kankuro quickly said as he instantly dropped the boy. Suddenly a wave of sand caught the boy and stopped him from hitting the ground. At this point Kiba decided to walk over, and then noticed the foreign headbands on the three ninja and said,

"Hey what are you Sand Ninja doing here? I know the Leaf and Sand are allies but you need passes to be here." The three of them flashed their passes as Gaara said,

"We're here for the Chunin Exams. I am Gaara Sabaku, and these are my siblings. I'm sorry for the trouble my brother caused." The red head then turned his back and said,

"Come on Temari." The blond girl then walked over to Gaara, as Kankuro stayed back.

"Meet us at the hotel _Kankuro_." Gaara said, saying his brother's name in a low growl. Kankuro gulped as Gaara and Temari disappeared in tornado of sand. Kankuro then vanished in a puff of smoke. Naruto then turned his attention to the boy that was currently sitting on the ground.

"Hey, kid you okay?" Naruto asked as he bent down to look the boy in the face. The kid looked up and said,

"I'm okay! Hey your that Tsunade lady's son ain't ya?" Naruto nodded and replied,

"Naruto Gambit Senju at your service." The boy smiled and said,

"I've heard a lot about you! I'm Konohamaru Sarutobi, the next Hokage!" Naruto chuckled as he patted Konohamaru on the head and said,

"Keep that attitude and I wouldn't doubt it. Well I gotta get going, see ya later Konohamaru." Naruto and Kiba then walked off as Konohamaru yelled,

"SEE YA LATER BOSS!" Naruto smirked as walked off. Kiba could tell that Naruto's ego was inflating by the second, so slapped the back of Naruto's head as he said,

"Don't let that go to your head." Naruto rubbed his head and said,

"Who me? You must have me mixed up with someone else." Kiba rolled his eyes and said,

"Yeah, yeah." As the kept walking they decided to head to Ichiraku's Ramen for some lunch. As they neared the restaurant, they suddenly felt a cold sensation. They looked behind them and saw Haku sliding on an ice trail. She now wore a flak jacket and a Konoha headband, a clear sign she was a chunin, but they were all iced over. Tsunade had gauged the girl's skills and instantly promoted her to chunin, and set her up with an apartment not far from the Senju Estate.

"Hi Haku, Konoha been treating you well?" Naruto asked as he smiled at the ice wielder. Haku nodded and replied,

"Yes, your mother has been very generous. She has even begun to teach me some advanced medical jutsu." Naruto nodded and replied,

"Yeah, I'm glad she finally found someone else to teach her skills to. She tried to get me to become a medic, but I was never interested." Haku nodded as she then noticed Kiba half-glaring at her and quickly excused herself. Kiba was still edgy around Haku for some reason, and Naruto didn't understand it. Sure she worked for Zabuza, but she didn't kill Akamaru. Naruto just figured that seeing her reminded him of that mission, and thus of Akamaru's death. Naruto was beginning to wonder if Kiba would ever get over what happened.

"Let's get something to eat, okay?" Naruto said as he motioned for Kiba to enter the ramen stand.

* * *

><p>It had been a week and it turned out that Hinata had indeed decided to enter the Exams, much to Naruto and Kiba's relief. The three genin made their way inside the building where the first half of the Exams were to take place. As they walked in, Naruto saw his friend Rock Lee who had just challenged Sasuke Uchiha to a fight. Naruto noticed that Lee's outfit looked a little different. While he still had the green spandex, his leg warmers and forehead protector were now white.<p>

"Hey whose that Sasuke's fightning?" Kiba asked as he, Naruto, and Hinata stopped to watch the fight.

"That's Rock Lee, he's a friend of mine. He can't do ninjutsu or genjutsu but his taijutsu is the best I've ever seen." Naruto said as he leaned on the wall. As the fight started, Naruto saw that Lee was moving extremely fast as he was running so fast that a small tornado was forming around the Uchiha. Naruto knew Lee was fast but this was ridiculous! Suddenly, Lee stopped running and began to land punches on Sasuke so fast that his fists weren't even visible! And with one final punch, Lee had sent the Uchiha flying across the room. Sasuke was still conscious, though barely as Sakura ran over to see if he was alright. Shino on the other hand simply stood silently, and was also doing a great job and creeping everyone out. Naruto walked up to Lee and said,

"Hey Lee! Your team in the Exams to huh?" the Green Beast of Konha smiled, his teeth sparkling, as he replied,

"That is right Naruto! So this is your team?" Naruto then introduced Kiba and Hinata.

"Ah, I know about you Miss Hinata. Neji has mentioned you a couple of times." Lee said as he politely bowed to Hinata, showing his respect to the heiress. After talking for a moment, Team Kurenai continued on their way to the Exam room. They soon made it to a hallway filled with other genin, and Naruto sensed that there was a genjutsu over the place. One of the bonuses of having a sensei that was a genjutsu specialist.

"Hinata, use your Byakugan." Naruto whispered to the Hyuga heiress. Hinata did so and saw that there was indeed a genjutsu over it, hiding the fact that the Exam room was on the next floor. Naruto huddled his team together and whispered,

"Alright, guys I think this is a test to weed us out. Let's head up to the next floor, but don't tell anyone." Hinata looked at him curiously and replied,

"But what a-about your f-friend Lee?" Naruto sighed and said,

"Look I don't like it either, but the less people know about the genjutsu the greater the chances we have of passing." However at this moment one Sasuke Uchiha just announced that there was a genjutsu over the hallway, thus destroying Naruto's plan. Naruto grumbled as he, Kiba, and Hinata followed the crowd up to the Exam room.

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><p><strong>PLEASE REVIEW!<strong>

**1. This how Wolverine looks in the Wolverine Anime(Check it out, it's awesome!)**

**2. It's based on Jimmy Hudson, Ultimate Wolverine's son. He can coat his bone claws with metal, kinda like Colossus turning his skin into metal.**Special thanks to YoukoTaichou for this idea!****

****Also if you're wondering why Gaara was different in this, well you'll have to wait for the next chapter to find out. Also in case you're wondering why I changed his outfit, it's because I'm giving him Sandman's powers(Come on it's just to easy!). I was gonna give him Dust's powers, an X-Man who can turn herself into a sandstorm but not control sand, but with Gaara's ability to control sand then that would make give him Sandman's powers. **Special thanks to YoukoTaichou for this idea.** Also I tweaked Lee's outfit and had him really laying on the speed because I gave him Quicksilver's powers. For those who don't know Quicksilver is Magneto's son and has super-speed. Lee still wears the weights, and let's just say that when they come off he really is the fastest man alive!****


	14. 1Hour for the Test 3 Days for the Jungle

A Ninja's Gambit

Naruto and all related characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto. X-Men and all related characters belong to Marvel Comics

Chapter 14: One Hour for the Test. Three Days for the Jungle

Naruto, Kiba, Hinata, and the rest of the genin made their way to the next half of the Exams. The one leading the large group of genin was one Anko Mitarashi, the proctor of the second half of the exams. The first half was a written test, which was actually a secret test for espionage, that culminated in one final question that accounted for 50% of the final grade, which was also the minimum.

"Man, that written half was brutal! Information gathering my ass, that was just pure torture!" Kiba moaned as he walked in between his teammates.

"Y-yes. I b-barely m-made it." Hinata said in her usual soft voiced stutter. Naruto smirked at his teammates and replied,

"Don't know what you're talking about, it was a breeze for me." Kiba stared incredulously at the blond gambler and said,

"What do you mean it was a breeze? I was sweating from the minute the test started, and let me tell you it didn't take me long to start cheating!" Naruto shrugged and replied,

"I didn't answer the questions." Both Hinata and Kiba's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates when they heard this.

"You didn't answer a single question?" Kiba asked. Naruto shook his head and replied,

"It pays to know a Pervy Sage that you can blackmail into telling you anything." Hinata and Kiba looked at him curiously before they arrived at their destination, a large forest surrounded by a chain link fence

"Alright maggots, listen up! This is the Forest of Death! It's filled with poisonous plants, dangerous animals, and killer insects. It's also your home for the next three days!" Anko shouted with sadistic glee, she loved to make genin sweat. Naruto eyed the place suspiciously and then said quite loudly,

"Doesn't look like much to me." Suddenly a yellow electric like blast shot out of Anko's hand, nearly striking Naruto, who dodged only for the blast to strike Kiba who fell over paralyzed[1]. Anko then threw a kunai at Naruto's face, which he again dodged. Suddenly Anko disappeared and then reappeared behind Gambit and brought a kunai close to the blond gambler's neck and said,

"I just love cocky kids like you. It's always fun to watch you crack from terror!" Suddenly a Grass ninja appeared behind Anko holding a kunai with a ridiculously long tongue, claiming that the kunai Anko threw cut her hair. Anko waved her off and began to hand out consent forms. After everyone had signed their forms Anko explained the point of this half of the Exams. Everyone was given a scroll's with either heaven and earth written on them and the objective was to get both to gain entry to the tower in the middle of the forest. Everyone was told to enter at a different gate around the forest and when the alarm sounded they rushed into the forest. Naruto and Hinata headed to their designated gate, while Naruto had to carry Kiba who was still paralyzed. Anko said that it would wear off in about half an hour, but Naruto was just wishing that Kiba wasn't so heavy. Fortunately with Kiba's healing factor, the paralysis wore off in 10 minutes. Soon an alarm sounded and everyone rushed into the forest.

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><p>Naruto leaped easily from tree to tree, using his astounding natural agility and his bo-staff. Kiba was loving the so-called Forest of Death, having fun clawing his way through the trees. Hinata was a little afraid of being in the forest for three days, but a few words of encouragement from Naruto and Kiba made her feel more comfortable. After moving nonstop for three hours, and not finding another team, the team decided to set up a camp. They reached a very small clearing with a large tree that seemed to be hollowed out on one side.<p>

"Let's make camp here. We can set the sleeping bags up inside the tree for later." Naruto said, deciding to take charge.

"B-but what if s-something's i-inside it?" Hinata wisely questioned. Kiba walked up to the tree and sniffed inside the hollowed out part as he said,

"I don't smell anything." Hinata was still not sure and said,

"W-well there c-could be k-killer insects inside." Naruto sighed and threw a card into the tree, making an explosion that cleared out the tree of any potential threats. Naruto then did a fancy wave and a bow as he said,

"The tree is clear milady!" Hinata blushed at the name as they began to set things up.

"You do know that you probably attracted a lot of attention to us right?" Kiba growled out, clearly annoyed by Naruto's overkill idea of clearing the tree.

"Between my cards, your claws, and Hinata's Byakugan, we got nothing to worry about so relax." Naruto said as he sat on the ground, stretched out and leaning on the tree. Kiba mumbled something that sounded like "Crazy card-shark", but Naruto heard it, though he chose to ignore it. Kiba began to walk out of the camp, causing Hinata to ask,

"K-kiba? W-where are y-you going?" Kiba turned around and said,

"I'm gonna go scout around." Hinata was a little worried that Kiba was going off alone, but by the time she started to say something he had walked off. Naruto sighed as he knew that Kiba was going to try to find some action. Sometimes he really wondered if there was a brain under all those claws. Well if Kiba got his way, there would be brain ON his claws at least. Gambit shuddered a little at his feral teammate's new bloodthirsty attitude.

* * *

><p>It had been two hours and Kiba wasn't back yet, something that was making Hinata very nervous.<p>

"W-where is h-he? I h-hope he's alright." The Hyuga heiress said with a voice full of concern. Naruto, who was playing solitaire, shrugged as he said,

"I'm sure he's fine. He can heal from just about anything in a few minutes right?" Hinata nodded thought she was still worried. The Gambling Genin could tell that she still had some reservations so he said,

"Would it make you feel better if I went to look for him?" Hinata stared at him, her pale eyes filled with anxiety at being left alone in a place where anyone could happen across her. Naruto did several hand signs and said,

"Summoning Justu." Causing a brown six foot caiman to appear.

"_What's dis den?_" The caiman said in a somewhat high pitched accent.

"I need you to look after Hinata. Make sure nothing tries to hurt her." Naruto instructed the reptilian.

"N-Naruto? He's not g-going to e-eat me r-right?" Hinata wisely asked. She wasn't exactly familiar with crocodilians, aside from what she learned on the animal channel, which meant she only knew about alligators and crocodiles.

"Don't worry, he won't hurt you. Will you?" Naruto said reassuringly to Hinata, and inquisitively to the caiman.

_"Yeah dat's right. Don't you worry non ma cherie, I protect ya real good!" _The caiman said as it lumbered over to the Hyuga heiress. Naruto then reached into his coat and pulled out two headsets. The blond gambler handed Hinata one, which she then proceeded to put on.

"Just radio in if something happens." Naruto said as he put his headset on.

"Why d-didn't you give one t-to Kiba?" Hinata asked. Naruto rubbed the back of his head as he said,

"Well I kinda forgot to bring one for him, not that he'd use it anyway." Naruto then headed off to find his feral teammate.

* * *

><p>Gambit made his way through the forest, following the claw marks on the trees. He soon came across a blood covered clearing and a couple of bodies. Naruto had a feeling that Kiba might have had something to do with it, but as he got closer he saw that there were large amounts of sand on the grassy clearing and that there weren't any slash marks on the bodies. Suddenly the sand began to enclose on Naruto, who managed to leap out just in time. Naruto watched as the sand began to flow over to the other side of the clearing and formed into a rough image of a human body. The sand then formed into a smoother human like form and colorized, revealing it to be Gaara.<p>

"It seems we meet again." The red head said.

"Yeah it does. You know I just remembered that I never gave my name, it's Naruto Senju." Naruto said as he took out a couple of cards. Gaara nodded as he turned around, ready to leave, and replied,

"Well then, I suppose I'll be on my way." Naruto looked at him curiously and said,

"Aren't you gonna try to take a scroll from me?" Gaara turned his head in Naruto's direction and replied,

"I already have what I need, and I don't see any point in harming one like me." Naruto was confused about what he meant and asked,

"What do you mean I'm like you?" Gaara turned back around and said,

"You have a prisoner inside, the same as my sister and I. I can sense it. While I never have much problem killing, I never harm those who share our burden unless the situation warrants it." Naruto was even more confused now and asked,

"What are you talking about?" Gaara narrowed his eyes and said,

"It seems that you don't know. I would tell you what I mean, but it's not my place. Ask your parents if you have any and they might have the answer." And with that the red head became a sandstorm and flew off. Naruto was rightly confused out of his mind, but made a mental note to mention this to Tsunade. The blond gambler then heard a large boom come from a few yards away. Naruto rushed toward the sound to see Kiba and Shino defending Sakura and an unconscious Sasuke from a Sound Ninja that wore a thick yellow quilted shirt and and a brown vest. He also had gauntlets strapped to his arms that seemed to be vibrating. The Sound ninja threw his hands back and then unleashed what looked like a shockwave from his gauntlets which Shino dodged, but Kiba took full force. The feral genin was slammed through several trees, thus knocking him out. The Sound nin turned his attention to Shino and blasted his insects away. Naruto decided to intervene and threw a card at the attacker, blasting him away. The boy got up and looked over at Naruto who was now standing in front of Shino and Sakura.

"Who the hell are you?" The boy sneered. Naruto smirked and said,

"You can call me Gambit. And you are?" The gauntlet wearer chuckled and said,

"Name's Zaku, but I go by Shocker. I'd tell you not to forget it but you won't be around long enough to worry about that!" Zaku then unleashed a massive shockwave from his gauntlets toward Naruto, who dodged and threw several cards at Zaku but they were deflected by his shockwaves. The Shocker unleashed a large blast which sent Gambit flying hard into a tree. Zaku walked up and cackled as he steadied his gauntlets on Naruto.

"Say goodnight!" Zaku yelled as he got ready to unleash a massive shockwave, but suddenly a roar was heard. Zaku looked just in time to see Kiba slice his left arm off. Shocker howled in pain as he clutched the stump where his arm once was. The clawed Inuzuka then sliced off the other arm, doing a great job of scaring Sakura out of her mind. Naruto got up and looked over at the quivering arm-less Sound ninja then at Kiba as he said,

"A little much don't ya think?" Kiba shrugged and replied,

"It's not like I killed him or anything." Naruto looked back at Zaku and said,

"Might be more humane if you did." But before they could do anything else, a powerful wave of vertigo hit both of them. Naruto and Kiba fell over just in time to see a girl with black hair holding her hand out at them. Then a mummy wrapped boy with a gigantic gauntlet on his right arm walked up next to her.

"What do you think, Dosu? Do we kill them too?" The girl asked the one now identified as Dosu.

"Not yet Kin, we kill the Uchiha first." Dosu said as he began to head for Sasuke's unconscious form. Shino stood in front of him with his insects ready, only to be struck with a powerful feeling of vertigo that was coming from Kin[2] which caused him to fall to his knees. Sakura stood in front of Dosu, but was smacked aside by his large gauntlet and into a rock. Dosu stood over the Uchiha and raised his gigantic gauntlet, ready to smash him. But before he could he froze, unable to move a muscle.

"Man this is a drag." An uninterested voice said from behind a bush. The source of the voice walked out of the bush to reveal one Shikamaru Nara, using clan's Shadow Bind on Dosu. Kin was about to unleash a blast of vertigo on the Nara, but couldn't move as another Shikamaru[3] stepped out of the bush behind her using his shadow to paralyze her.

"I don't think so lady." The other Shikamaru said. At this point Shikamaru's teammates, Ino Yamanaka and Choji Akimichi, walked up.

"You guys alright?" Ino asked as she looked them over. Naruto got up and replied,

"Yeah, still a little dizzy though." Kiba on the other hand shambled over to a bush and puked from the the spinning feeling. Ino then looked over at Naruto and said,

"You better not throw up on me." Naruto smirked and said,

"It'll take more than that to make me puke." No sooner had he said this than he ran over to a tree and vomited on it.

"Well now that that's taken care of, what do we do with him?" Shikamaru said, pointing to the still knocked out Sasuke as his duplicates absorbed into him. At this point Sakura shambled over, her leg and arm broken, and passed out.

"Correction. What do we do with them?" Naruto said as the rest of them surrounded the pink haired girl.

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><p><strong>PLEASE REVIEW! <strong>

**1. This is Asp's power. She's a member of the Serpent Society and can fire venom blasts that can kill or paralyze. **

**2. Kin has Vertigo's powers, a mutant who can cause people to have, naturally, vertigo.**

**3. In case it wasn't obvious, Shikamaru has Multiple Man's powers. I'm basing it on modern Multiple Man though, who can control when he makes clones without having to be hit.**

********Special thanks to YoukoTaichou for the ideas ********


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